From Rezaul H Laskar Islamabad, Feb 13 (PTI) The government today summoned the Charge d'Affairs of the US embassy here to convey its "serious concern" over a hearing in the US Congress on alleged human rights abuses and excesses by Pakistan's security forces in the country's restive southwestern Balochistan province. A subcommittee of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs held a special hearing last week on the situation in Balochistan, during which witnesses detailed human rights abuses and alleged excesses by security forces. Charge dÂ'Affairs Richard Hoagland was called to the Foreign Ministry and "officially conveyed the government's serious concern with regard to the hearing held by the US Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on Oversight and Investigations in relation to Balochistan", Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said. Hoagland was informed that the hearing was "unacceptable as it amounted to interference in the internal affairs of the country". The American diplomat said the "US administration had not extended any support to the initiative nor did it subscribe to such views", Basit said. Last week, five US lawmakers who attended the Congressional panel hearing stressed the right to self-determination of the Baloch people. The incident added to tensions between Islamabad and Washington, whose relations plunged to a new low in November last year after a cross-border NATO air strike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The Pakistan government shut all NATO supply routes and forced the US to vacate Shamsi airbase, reportedly a hub for CIA-operated drones. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has ordered a parliamentary review to frame new "terms of engagement" for NATO and the US.
