ISLAMABAD – A top US diplomat was in Pakistan for talks on Wednesday designed to help reset the troubled alliance but likely to be overshadowed by a US bounty on a Pakistani wanted over the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Washington billed the visit by deputy secretary of State Tom Nides as the next step in re-engagement after the two countries’ relationship suffered badly over US air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.
Nides was due to hold talks with foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar and finance minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. A United States official said joint statements would be issued but that no press conference was scheduled.
Pakistan has so far been tight-lipped since the United States on Monday slapped a $10 million bounty on Hafiz Saeed, the founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group blamed for the Mumbai attacks who lives openly in Pakistan.
The US official declined to comment on the precise agenda of Wednesday’s talks. Asked about the timing of the bounty, he said: “It could be perceived as being unfortunate” but said it was the culmination of a process lasting months.
Pakistan’s parliament is debating recommendations designed to reset the relationship with the United States following a series of crises, notably the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May and the November air strikes.
“As parliament approaches the conclusion of its policy review, given that parliament is still deliberating, we’re prepared to discuss a full-range of issues,” the US official said.
US lawmakers voiced fury at the discovery of al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden living in Pakistan, which had received $18 billion in aid for cooperation since the September 11, 2001 attacks. He was killed in a US special forces raid.
