Deaths 'not deliberate', says Obama

President Barack Obama on Sunday expressed condolences to President Asif Ali Zardari for the deaths last month of 24 Pakistani troops, saying the Nato airstrikes that killed them were not a "deliberate attack."
A White House statement said Obama placed a call early Sunday to Zardari expressing his regrets over the "tragic loss" and promising a "full investigation" into the incident, which has plunged the two uneasy allies into a diplomatic crisis.
Obama "made clear that this regrettable incident was not a deliberate attack on Pakistan and reiterated the United States' strong commitment to a full investigation," the statement said. Islamabad has so far refused to take part in a US investigation into the November 26 air strikes on the Afghan border.
But the White House said Obama and Zardari nonetheless "reaffirmed their commitment to the US-Pakistan bilateral relationship, which is critical to the security of both nations, and they agreed to stay in close touch."
Meanwhile, an influential Republican lawmaker said that the United States should link its military aid to Pakistan's co-operation on security, amid a crisis between the two countries over a Nato air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
Senator John McCain, a leading Republican voice on security issues, charged that Pakistani intelligence continues to support a militant group that kills Americans, and he noted that Pakistani troops in the past have fired across the poorly marked Afghan border.
"This is a fog of war situation. Investigation is going on," McCain said on CNN's State of the Union program, referring to the November 26 air strikes on a Pakistani border post that plunged relations between the two erstwhile allies into crisis. "But also the fact is that the ISI is still supporting the Haqqani network which is killing Americans. That is unacceptable," he said.
He said materials in roadside bombs that have killed US forces in neighbouring Afghanistan have been traced to two fertiliser factories in Pakistan.
Asked how the United States should proceed, McCain said a complete break with Pakistan had been tried in the past for a ten year period and it did not work.
"But we have to address it in a realistic fashion and aid has to be gauged on the degree of co-operation that they are showing us in helping us prevent the needless deaths of young Americans," he said.
"So I would gauge our aid, particularly military aid - and we've given many billions, as you know - directly related to the degree of co-operation they show us, and we have to explore all alternatives."