Islamabad: Terming it as a "malicious
campaign", Pakistan on Wednesday said the disclosure of secret US
documents by WikiLeaks website was to tarnish the image of its
security forces and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency.
The "innumerable sacrifices" of Pakistan`s people and
security forces in the counter-terror campaign "cannot be
belittled", Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said.
"The leaks are an unacceptable insult to the
sacrifices of our people and security forces," he said.
In a brief statement, Basit said the Pakistan
government had taken "serious exception to the malicious
campaign launched by certain quarters to tarnish the standing
and image of Pakistani state institutions, including the
security forces and the ISI".
The "baseless reports by some low-level and biased
operatives" that were publicised by WikiLeaks are "misleading
and evidently self-serving to justify the collective failings
of the international community in Afghanistan by certain
quarters", Basit said.
Pakistan has "acted in conformity with its national
interests and in accordance with the principles and norms of
international law and the UN charter", he said.
"We have noted that some of our close friends and
partners, including the US, have been dismissive of these
reports and described them as irresponsible," he added.
Pakistan had initially dismissed as "misplaced" and
"skewed" the leaked US intelligence reports that accused the
ISI of supporting Taliban fighters.
It also said the ongoing counter-terrorism cooperation
between Pakistan and the US will continue to defeat common
enemies.
The whistleblowers` website Wikileaks has made public
92,000 classified reports and cables from the US military,
intelligence and civilian administration in Afghanistan.
Three publications were given access to the documents
and have published a series of reports on the data.
The documents, dating from 2004 to 2009, contain
allegations that the ISI was linked to a plot to assassinate
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the 2008 bombing of the
Indian Embassy in Kabul.
One report said the ISI had allegedly offered 15,000
to 30,000 dollars for the killing of Indian construction
workers in Afghanistan.
PTI
