Obama owns up to drone strikes against Pakistan's terror camps

Admission:Obama says drones save on military action

Barack Obama admitted today that US drones have carried out numerous deadly strikes on targets in Pakistan.

It was the first time the president has openly admitted the military is responsible for the raids, which have killed scores of terrorist suspects.

As he answered live internet questions, another 11 militants, including four al Qaeda leaders, were killed in an unmanned air strike in Yemen.

Mr Obama said the drones were part of a "targeted, focused effort at people who are on a list of active terrorists".

But he rejected accusations from some Iraqi officials that drones were also being routinely used in their country, claiming they were only used to protect the embassy in Baghdad. He added that the drones target "al Qaeda suspects who are up in very tough terrain along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan".

"For us to be able to get them in another way would involve probably a lot more intrusive military action than the ones we're already engaging in."

In Pakistan many claim the drones, which are controlled by the CIA, have caused indiscriminate civilian deaths and injuries. At least 64 US missile strikes were reported in the mountain areas along the Afghan-Pakistan border last year, down from 101 in 2010.

Mr Obama was talking as part of a live internet chat where people were asked to submit questions. More than 250,000 queries were made and people then voted for their favourite question.

The winner concerned British student Richard O'Dwyer who the US wants to extradite on copyright charges.

US authorities claim his website breached rules by directing people to free television and movie downloads.

But the president said: "I want everybody to understand: one of the ways our system works is that the president doesn't get involved in prosecution decisions or extradition decisions and this was a decision by the Justice Department."

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