With the shadow of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks hanging over their meeting at the Oval Office, U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday bluntly asked Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif why the trial of suspects, including Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, had not begun yet.
Mr. Sharif in turn urged Mr. Obama to bring to an end drone strikes in the tribal belt of Pakistan and he was bolstered by recent reports outlining civilian deaths caused by drones. However, an article in The Washington Post on Thursday quoted top-secret CIA documents and Pakistani diplomatic memos showing that “top officials in Pakistan’s government have for years secretly endorsed the [drone] programme.”
Mr. Obama’s question to his Pakistani interlocutor came even as the anti-terrorism court in Pakistan, charged with conducting the Mumbai attacks trial, postponed the hearing until November 6.
