US-Pak crisis: Khar recalled,Kayani meets generals

The foreign minister would meet both Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari on her return.

The tense standoff between Pakistan and the US over the ISIs links with the terrorist Haqqani network escalated sharply today after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani recalled Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar from New York,and announced a meeting of all political parties to apprise them on the security situation in the wake of threats emanating from outside the country.

Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani chaired a six-hour meeting with his top commanders to review the security situation,and Pakistans second highest ranking general complained to a top US commander about negative statements emerging from the US.

Over the past few days,top US officials have repeatedly accused the ISI of encouraging the Haqqani network,describing the Afghan terrorist organisation as a veritable arm of the Pakistani intelligence service.

On Sunday,Sen. Lindsey Graham,a Republican member of the Armed Services Committee,said that if Islamabad continued to embrace terrorism as part of their national strategy,the US would have to put all options on the table.

A statement issued by Prime Minister Gilanis office said Foreign Minister Khar had been summoned to reach Pakistan soon to be present in the briefing,which will be given by all the concerned authorities.

The proposed meeting with all political parties will send a strong message that the nation stands united when the defence and security of the country is at stake,the statement added. Political differences in domestic politics do not come in the way of national and foreign policy issues,which are above party politics.

Khar was expected to fly back to Islamabad tonight,TV channels quoted official sources as saying. Gilani had sent Khar to the UN after pulling out of the trip himself,reportedly after President Barack Obama refused to meet him on the sidelines of the UN meet.

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The foreign minister would meet both Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari on her return,reports said. She has been called back because her presence is vital at the meeting of the countrys political leadership,official sources were quoted as saying. Khar was the only member of the civilian leadership to have had direct contact with US officials regarding the allegations about the ISI. In a strongly worded statement,the minister had rejected the US charges and warned Washington not to alienate an ally.

Earlier in the day,a six-hour meeting of the Pakistan Army corps commanders reviewed the security situation in the country in the backdrop of growing tensions and sharp escalation of rhetoric with the US. The meeting rejected the US accusations and decided to give a fitting response to any cross-border attacks by militants based in Afghanistan,Geo News reported.

The commanders also agreed that Kayani would meet Zardari and Gilani to take the political leadership into confidence,the channel reported.

At a meeting with the visiting US vCentral Command chief Gen James Mattis today,Gen Khalid Shameem Wynne,chairman of Pakistans Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee,expressed concern about the negative statements emanating from the US. Wynne called for addressing the irritants in the relationship which are a result of an extremely complex situation,a military statement said.

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Gilani spent the day contacting leaders of various political parties to develop consensus on the US accusations. Chief of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Maulana Fazlur Rehman called on Gilani,and the prime minister spoke on the phone with PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif,Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Altaf Hussain,Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan,PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Jamaat-e-Islami head Munawar Hassan.Rezaul H Laskar