'Pak army's stand won't change US probe into air strike'

Dismissing the remarks by the Pakistani military on the November 26 deadly NATO cross border strike, the United States on Monday said it stands by its own investigation that it was not an unprovoked firing by the US-led forces.

"This (Pakistan military remarks) does not change our believes in the validity of the findings. The statement that this was an unprovoked attack by American forces is simply false," Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt John Kirby said.

"This was not an unprovoked attack. We have said this many many times. There were errors made on both sides here," he told mediapersons.

Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said that Pakistan officially communicated with it on its own findings over the weekend before going public on Monday.

Asserting that the US stands "100 per cent" by the investigation done by a top general from the Central Command released last month, Kirby said the US had desired Pakistani participation in that investigation, which then would have been more thorough.

Pakistan's absence from participation in the CENTCOM investigation, Kirby said: "does not change our firm believe in the validity of the findings of the investigations that we did".

The most important thing is that the Pentagon now wants to get past all this and wants to build a good co-operative relationship with the Pakistani military.

"We still believe that co-ordination and communication with the Pakistani military particularly across that border remains vital to our success in Afghanistan. We are still very committed to this relationship and getting it on the right track," Kirby said.

Pakistan had reacted angrily after its 24 soldiers were

killed and 13 more injured when NATO helicopters and combat jets from Afghanistan targeted two military check posts in Salala area of Mohmand tribal region on November 26 last year.

Responding to questions, Kirby said the US would like to see the NATO supply routes to be reopened by Pakistan, but quickly added that this is something for Islamabad to decide. Kirby acknowledged that the relationship between the two countries is going through a rough patch.

"We believe that it is in the interest of both countries and both militaries to move beyond all that, try to find some common ground and try to advance that relationship in a positive direction than it has been going on in the last few months," he said.

The ongoing tension, he acknowledged, has impacted their relationship. "There has been impact to the fact that the relationship is not going well. There is no doubt about it. But I would also say that on a daily basis the cooperation on a tactical level with the Pakistani military across the border continues and in some ways better facilitated. Our operations inside Afghanistan continues," he said.

Earlier in the day, the Pakistani military rejected the US report, saying it was considered in an "adversarial role" and not as a friend during the American inquiry.

"Pakistan does not agree with several portions and findings of the (US) investigation report as these are factually not correct," said a terse statement from Inter- Services Public Relations, the media arm of the military.

Click here for more Realtime News on Pakistan-US ties!