Hina Khar to visit UK on memo testimony dates

LONDON: Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar will arrive here on February 20 for talks with her British counterpart, William Hague, and other senior officials on issues including London’s role in stopping US drone strikes in the Pakistani tribal areas, Foreign Office sources told The News on Saturday.
The sources said Khar, during her three-day visit, would raise the issue of drone attacks and was likely to urge Britain to help stop the strikes as these violated Pakistani sovereignty.
Given Khar’s engagements in London, the source said, the High Commission might ask the memo commission to change the date of Mansoor Ijaz’s testimony, Feb 22, till after the foreign minister’s visit.
“This has already been discussed during a meeting in the High Commission. Senior Pakistan People’s Party functionaries have raised this issue and they would like the date to be changed,” said the source.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said Khar would start her visit on 20th. She will meet British Foreign Secretary William Hague, senior officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the cabinet ministers.
Foreign Secretary Hague said in a statement: “I look forward to receiving the Foreign Minister in London on February 21, where we will discuss Afghanistan and the region as well as our strong bilateral relations.”
Khar is also slated to address a political think tank in London and deliver a speech at the Oxford University at the invitation of the Oxford University Pakistan Society, they added.
“During the meeting with the British foreign secretary, the two sides will discuss various facets of the enhanced strategic dialogue framework,” a Foreign Office sources told The News.
“The two sides will focus on issues of mutual interest, Afghanistan situation, pullout of British troops, the war on terror, drone attacks on Pakistan and other regional issues,” the source added.
The High Commission has yet to decide on what arrangements would be made to ensure that Ijaz’s testimony was recorded without any hurdles. The High Commission has already said that it would comply with the instructions sent by the Foreign Office.