Pakistan to Review All Arrangements with U.S., NATO

Pakistan on Saturday ordered a review of all arrangements with the United States and NATO, including diplomatic, political, military, and intelligence activities, following a deadly cross-border strike.

The decision was taken at an extraordinary meeting of senior cabinet ministers and military chiefs chaired by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, his office said, after Pakistan said up to 26 soldiers were killed in the strike.

The defense committee of cabinet (DCC) upheld the closure of the Afghan border to NATO supply trucks, implemented earlier Saturday, and demanded that the United States vacate a remote desert air base reportedly used as a hub for covert CIA drone strikes on Pakistan's border areas with Afghanistan.

"The DCC decided to close with immediate effect the NATO/ISAF (NATO force in Afghanistan) logistics supply lines. The DCC also decided to ask the U.S. to vacate the Shamsi air base within 15 days," said the prime minister's office.

"The DCC decided that the government will revisit and undertake a complete review of all programs, activities and cooperative arrangements with U.S./NATO/ISAF, including diplomatic, political, military, and intelligence."

In June, Pakistan also told the United States to leave Shamsi, as Islamabad sought to limit U.S. activities after a clandestine American raid killed Osama bin Laden on May 2 near the capital Islamabad.

The U.S. embassy, which was not immediately reachable for comment on Saturday, has previously said there were no U.S. military personnel at Shamsi.

CNN reported in April that U.S. military personnel had left the base.

Washington has not publicly acknowledged operations at the base, but images said to be of U.S. Predator drones at Shamsi have been published by Google Earth in the past.

The airstrip is 900 kilometers southwest of the capital Islamabad in Baluchistan province.

Pakistan gave the U.S. military logistical support at several bases after joining the U.S.-led war on terror in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.