ISI chief meets CIA head in US

Washington/Islamabad, Sep 22: As pressure mounted on Islamabad to move against the Haqqani network, accused by US of carrying out a spate of attacks in Kabul, ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha rushed here to hold a quite meeting with the new CIA head Gen David Petraeus.

It was an "unpublicised" private meeting between the two here yesterday, ''The Washington Post'' daily said.

It also said Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also met with Pakistan army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in Madrid last week, where the Americans pressed for an immediate military operation to rein in the Haqqani militants.

The "proxy connection" between Pakistani intelligence and the Haqqani network was the focus of those discussions, Mullen was quoted as saying by the daily.

Meanwhile, Pakistani daily ''The Express Tribune'' said said Pasha had met with Petraeus and CIA officials at the CIA headquarters and separately with senior White House officials at Pakistani Ambassador to US Husain Haqqani's residence in Washington before leaving for Islamabad.

The meeting between the intelligence chiefs was the third high level meeting in a week to discuss the Haqqani Network and its presence in Pakistan.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has met with with Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar in New York on Sunday, where according to officials the first and last thing discussed was the Haqqani network.

The Pakistani daily said the meeting with Mullen and Kayani lasted for four hours, where he reiterated his desire for Pakistan to take action against the group.

The daily however said the meeting took place in Seville, Spain. The US has said it has evidence to prove that Pakistani government had links with the Haqqani network, that is being blamed for the attack on the US Embassy in Kabul on September 13.

PTI