WARNING

Pakistan Orders CIA to Stop Drone Strikes

Jeopardizing U.S. fight against al Qaeda.

In a move that could jeopardize America’s strategy in its war on terror, Pakistan demanded Monday that the U.S. drastically reduce the number of CIA agents working in Pakistan as well as cut down on the CIA drone strikes aimed at al Qaeda militants in the northwestern of the country. The request came amid the fallout of the arrest and release of an American CIA contractor Raymond Davis, who killed two men in Lahore in January during an alleged mugging. Spokesman George Little said CIA Director Leon Panetta and the head of Pakistan’s spy agency, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, had a “productive” meeting in Washington, and Little insisted the relationship between the two agencies “remains on solid footing.” Pakistan wants the U.S. to remove a total of 335 American personnel—CIA officers, contractors, and Special Operations forces—which could be a huge blow in the war on terror.