CIA chief Leon Panetta called on Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani on Friday and discussed the framework for future intelligence sharing, according to an ISPR statement.
The CIA chief also shared with the Pakistani authorities vital information that the US intelligence apparatus has gathered about activities of the Haqqani network.
The US administration is anxiously waiting for specific action by Pakistan against the Haqqani network in North Waziristan as they have in recent days shared some vital information about the network’s activities and that of others in the Tribal Areas coupled with a demand of immediate operation to root them out, sources said. However, they refused to divulge what specifically the information was that had been provided by the US authorities. Pakistan’s position that no operation in North Waziristan shall be launched in the near future has frustrated the US, hence Panetta’s sudden arrival in Islamabad.
“During his talks with ISI chief Shuja Pasha likely today (Saturday) and other Pakistani leaders, he will share more Haqqani-specific information with them along with a strong demand for a crackdown against the militant group without any further delay,” another source said. Before embarking upon a visit to Islamabad, the CIA chief told the US Senate Armed Services Committee that an accelerated counterterrorism campaign in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan was “vital” for the US to defeat Al Qaeda there and prevent its return.
He said any decisions on future US security assistance to Islamabad would be formed by Pakistan’s response to the concrete steps the US had set for counterterrorism cooperation.
