The new head of Pakistan`s intelligence service, Ahmed Shuja Pasha, will arrive in the United States capital, Washington D.C. this weekend for meetings with CIA’s director Michael Hayden, diplomatic sources told Pakistani daily Dawn.
"The CIA and ISI chiefs will discuss various options from removing this distrust between Pakistani and US intelligence communities," said a senior diplomatic source, cited by Dawn.
A top US military official, Gen. David Petraeus, will arrive in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, for talks with his Pakistani counterparts next week. He will also visit Afghanistan.
The two spy chiefs will discuss ‘intelligence issues’ and will explore the possibility of greater cooperation between their agencies in the fight against al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, Dawn`s sources said.
Pakistan has complained that US intelligence agencies often refuse to share intelligence with their Pakistani counterparts, resulting in uncoordinated air attacks that have killed scores of innocent civilians.
US officials say that they do not trust Pakistan`s intelligence service because in the past, sensitive information provided to it has leaked out to alleged militants.
The CIA has recently stepped up its operations against suspected militants in Pakistan`s lawless northwestern tribal areas.
At least 11 missile attacks have been launched by Predator unmanned aircraft against al-Qaeda and Taliban targets in August and September, compared with six in the previous eight months.
Meanwhile, Gen. Petraeus, who will take charge of the US Central Command next week, will discuss plans for fighting Taliban and al-Qaeda militants with his Pakistani counterparts when he arrives in Islamabad next Friday.
Diplomatic sources say that Gen. Petraeus hopes to use the same strategy in Pakistan and Afghanistan that he employed during his previous command of US forces in Iraq.
Petraeus`use of Iraqi tribesmen to fight al-Qaeda in Iraq has been very successful and he hopes to use this strategy in Pakistan’s tribal areas as well, sources said.
Pakistan plans to arm tens of thousands of tribesmen in the northwest to fight the Taliban and al-Qaeda militants, The Washington Post newspaper reported on Thursday.
US officials believe that Pakistan needs to forge ahead with a wider counterinsurgency strategy to make long-term gains against the extremists.
Gen. Petraeus will assume direct command of US war efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan when he becomes the head of the US Central Command.
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