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Monday, February 6, 2012

Lobbyist for Pakistan seeks US apology over NATO airstrikes


Pakistan’s chief lobbyist asked the United States to apologize for NATO airstrikes that inadvertently killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, according to Justice Department records. On Dec. 22, 2011, Mark Siegel, a partner at Locke Lord Strategies, emailed a nine-page memo to offices on Capitol Hill that detailed Pakistan s version of the events surrounding the airstrikes. The memo said that the incident "seriously damaged" the relationship between the Pakistani Army and U.S.-led NATO forces and aroused "suspicions in the rank and file of the Pakistan Army that it was a premeditated attack … conducted to undermine the sovereignty and stature of Pakistan." "Considering the circumstances of the 25/26 November attacks that resulted in the death of 24 Pakistani soldiers, an apology by the U.S. Department of Defense to the people of Pakistan would not be inappropriate," the memo concludes. Siegel noted in the memo that the document was prepared after “briefings by multiple officials of the Embassy of Pakistan." In an interview with The Hill, Siegel said his firm’s memo on the NATO airstrikes was sent to all lawmakers, chiefs of staffs and foreign policy legislative aides on Capitol Hill. “What we were attempting to do there was summarize the Pakistan version of events and compare it to the U.S. version of events and note where the two are in conflict,” Siegel said. Siegel said an apology still has not been offered to Pakistan for the airstrikes. “There have been expressions of regret but there has not been an apology,” Siegel said. “It certainly would have helped. Now, two months after the fact, it could still be helpful.”

Egypt's Mubarak to be moved to prison


Egyptian officials say Hosni Mubarak will be moved to a prison hospital as soon as the facility is upgraded to house the 83-year-old former president. The officials said Sunday the hospital in Tora prison in Cairo will be upgraded in "record time," but that there is no set date for the move. Since his arrest last April, Mubarak has been held in custody first at a hospital in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh and later at a military hospital outside Cairo. The officials said nearly 50 stalwarts of Mubarak s regime held at Tora would also be dispersed to five different jails in the Cairo area. They include Mubarak s two sons. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.