US withdraws talk team from Pak

The team of negotiators had been in Pakistan for about six weeks,he said,as US officials had believed they were close to a deal with Islamabad to lift the blockade on NATO convoys.

But no breakthrough was imminent and there was no scheduled date for a resumption of the negotiations,Little said. However,the US would continue to maintain a “dialogue” with Pakistan and the departure of the negotiating team did not mean Washington had given up discussions with Islamabad,he said.

“That’s not to be taken as a sign of our unwillingness to continue the dialogue with Pakistanis on this issue,” he said,adding that the negotiators are “prepared to return at any moment.”

The move came after Pakistan’s army chief General Ashfaq Kayani refused last week to meet US assistant defence secretary Peter Lavoy,who travelled to Pakistan to try to resolve the dispute,officials said.

Lavoy “was hoping to meet with General Kayani to work through this issue,” Little said.

The negotiating team was in Pakistan to ensure opening up of NATO supply routes to Afghanistan which was blocked by Islamabad following the November 26 crossborder air strike that resulted in the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers.

The News daily quoted an unnamed Pakistani official as saying the request was turned down for a number of reasons,including anger against US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta’s remarks last week that the US was running out of patience with Pakistan for failing to act against militant safe havens in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.