ISI chief in US; discusses situation in Pak-Afghan region

Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief lieutenant general Ahmed Shuja Pasha has discussed the situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan with top security officials in the US and apprised them of Pakistan's views about the new American strategy for the region.

Pasha, currently on a visit to the US, met Central Intelligence Agency director Leon Panetta, president Barack Obama's national security adviser general James L Jones and national intelligence chief Dennis Blair, diplomatic sources were quoted as saying by Dawn newspaper today.

"They discussed the current security situation in the Pak-Afghan region...Gen Pasha informed his US counterparts how Pakistan views the new policy debate in Washington," said a diplomatic source.

Last week, general Stanley McChrystal, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, submitted a report to the White House warning that the US risks losing the Afghan war if it does not send more troops to that country.

The report sparked a debate in the US, and president Obama met his senior security advisers, including vice president Joe Biden and Jones, on Tuesday to discuss the report. American media reported that Biden opposed sending more troops and instead urged increasing targeted attacks on suspected terrorist hideouts.

A US journalist, who interviewed Pasha last week, reported that ISI too opposed a troop surge in Afghanistan and was appealing to the US to work with Afghan president Hamid Karzai despite his "imperfections."