Pakistan PM: 'We won't be pressured by US' on Haqqanis
Pakistan will not bow to US pressure to step up its fight against militancy, its prime minister has said.
Yousuf Raza Gilani told a rare meeting of political and religious parties that relations between the two countries should be based on mutual respect.
Relations have hit new lows since the top US military officer said Pakistan backed the Haqqani militant group in Afghanistan, a charge Pakistan rejects.
Correspondents say many Pakistanis see the US comments as a threat of war.
Washington wants Islamabad to sever links with the Haqqani group, which analysts say has roots deep inside Pakistani territory. US officials say they are close to deciding whether to label the group as a foreign terrorist organisation.
"Pakistan cannot be pressured to do more," Mr Gilani told the meeting in Islamabad.
"The blame game should end, and Pakistan's sensitive national interests should be respected," he said, in comments carried live on local television stations.
He said that Pakistan was united over any threat to its sovereignty.
Pakistan's army head Gen Ashfaq Kayani and ISI spy chief Lt-Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha were also at the meeting.
The US has been targeting militants, including members of the Haqqani group, for months in Pakistan's tribal areas near the Afghan border - some in the US Congress are now calling for it to go beyond drone strikes.
Pakistan's military was deeply angered and humiliated when US commandos killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in a secret raid on Pakistani soil in May.
'Shocked'
Tensions between the two countries rose still further last week when the most senior US military officer, Adm Mike Mullen, made his accusations, calling the Haqqanis a "veritable arm" of Pakistan's spy agency.
The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says the emergency meeting of Pakistan's parties is the largest gathering of its kind in the country for years.
He says Adm Mullen's comments have caused much anger in Pakistan and led many people to feel the US is threatening war.
The White House, however, made slightly more conciliatory noises on Wednesday.
Spokesman Jay Carney said he would not have used the same language as Adm Mullen, while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the two countries have to "work together".
At the meeting, Mr Gilani said that any attempts by America to put pressure on Pakistan to do more would fail.
"American statements shocked us, and negate our sacrifices and successes in the ongoing war against terror," he told the gathering in his opening remarks.
"We should give up talking about assumptions for the sake of meaningful negotiations. Pakistan cannot be pressurised to do more. Our national interests should be respected. Our doors are open for dialogue."
The prime minister also rejected allegations made by Adm Mullen that Pakistan had helped orchestrate attacks on US targets in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has long denied supporting the Haqqani group, but BBC correspondents say it has a decades-old policy of pursuing foreign policy objectives through alliances with militants.
BBC News - Pakistan PM: 'We won't be pressured by US' on Haqqanis
