Senator Kerry in Pakistan to ease tension

ISLAMABAD: US Senator John Kerry held talks today with Pakistani army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani as part of efforts to ease tensions between the two countries in the wake of the unilateral military raid to kill Osama bin Laden.

Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is also expected to press Pakistan’s leadership to demonstrate their commitment to the campaign against Al Qaida and the Taliban. Shortly after he flew into Islamabad from Afghanistan today, Kerry met Kayani at the army’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.

They discussed “matters of mutual interest with special reference to post-Abbottabad incident”, said a statement issued by the Pakistani military. In a separate development, US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton telephoned President Asif Ali Zardari and discussed the situation in the aftermath of the military operation that killed bin Laden in the garrison city of Abbottabad on May 2.

The two leaders “agreed to resolve issues amicably and move forward”, said a statement from the presidency.

PTI