CIA chief due to hold Pakistan talks
“Panetta will call on President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and ISI chief Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha,” a senior Pakistani official said. -File Photo
ISLAMABAD: CIA chief Leon Panetta is due to hold talks with Pakistani leaders following a report that Western intelligence uncovered a major European terror plot hatched in Pakistan, an official said Wednesday.
“Panetta will call on President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and ISI chief Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha,” a senior Pakistani official told AFP, requesting anonymity.
Talks will focus on “bilateral counter-terrorism cooperation, the Afghan situation and other regional issues,” the official said. There was no comment from the US embassy.
The spy chief's visit comes as a covert American drone war steps up missile strikes on Al-Qaeda-linked commanders in North Waziristan, Pakistan's most notorious stronghold of Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants.