The US spy agency has quietly tightened its rules on drone strikes in Pakistan over concerns about their impact on tense relations with Islamabad, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The Journal, citing senior officials, said the new rules resulted from a behind-the-scenes battle between an aggressive Central Intelligence Agency and US military and diplomatic officials concerned about relations with Pakistan.
A high-level review reaffirmed support for the drone program - which has killed hundreds of militants, including top commanders, in recent years - but established new rules to minimise the diplomatic blowback, the Journal said. The changes reportedly include granting the State Department greater sway in strike decisions, giving Pakistani leaders advance warning of more operations and suspending operations when Pakistani officials visit the United States.
"It's not like they took the car keys away from the CIA," the Journal quoted a senior official as saying. "There are just more people in the car." The Journal said the debate was sparked by a particularly deadly drone strike on March 17 that took place just one day after Pakistan agreed to release a CIA contractor who had killed two Pakistanis.
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