Islamabad: CIA Director Leon Panetta held a meeting with Pakistan’s Army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani and ISI head Ahmed Shuja Pasha to repair ties between the two countries that were fractured by the American raid that killed former al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
Panetta’s visit was his first to Pakistan since the unilateral American operation on May 2 killed bin Laden in a garrison town of Pakistani, triggering a backlash by the powerful military. Panetta’s visit is likely to be his last before he becomes the next US defence secretary.
Sources said the meeting discussed the ways to repair the relationship, including the setting up of a joint intelligence team to track down at least five other high-value militant targets inside Pakistan.
Panetta’s visit to Islamabad coincides with a trip by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that is likely to discuss the role Islamabad can play in negotiations with the Taliban to end the war in Afghanistan.
American officials said that they want to repair a relationship vital to their fight against al Qaeda and their efforts to end the war in Afghanistan, but progress has been slow amid suspicions by some in Washington that elements within the security establishment here were sheltering bin Laden.
Pakistan, facing public anger over what was seen as an unacceptable violation of sovereignty, sent home most US Army trainers in the country and said Thursday it no longer wanted American financial assistance.
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