Pakistani, American spooks rebuild ties

WASHINGTON - Obama administration officials Friday underscored the importance of United States complicated relationship with Islamabad, and denied running a campaign against Pakistan.
But they also said the United States does have differences with Pakistan at times and that officials from both countries were in touch with each other to thrash them out.
The cooperation we have with Pakistan is extremely important in terms of our national security objectives, in terms of protecting Americans, in terms of taking the fight to Al-Qaeda, and thats why we continue to work with the Pakistanis and try to build on that cooperation, said Jay Carney, President Obamas spokesman at the White House briefing.
Carney was responding to a question from an Indian journalist over the alleged Pakistani intelligence agencys involvement in the Haqqani groups attacks against US targets in Afghanistan and in India, a charge Islamabad denies. Ever since Islamabad-Washington relations started to deteriorate over US allegations about the alleged Pakistani involvement with the Haqqani network, a group of Indian correspondents in Washington stepped up their campaign against Pakistan, asking a series of questions that depict the country in a negative light. On Friday, the White House twice rebuked an Indian correspondent who attempted to distort the remarks about Pakistan made by President Barack Obama at Thursdays press conference. He (Obama) didnt say that ..., Carney told the Indian journalist, but answered his question.
Ive said all along, we have an important relationship with Pakistan, the White House spokesman said. We have had enormous successes through our cooperation with Pakistan...
We have also made clear that we have issues with Pakistan at times, and that it is a complicated relationship. And I think the President addressed that very clearly and fully yesterday in his press conference, he added.
Meanwhile, the State department denied that it is conducting an anti-Pakistan campaign with a series of recent statements, saying it is only trying to make the case for cooperative efforts against terrorist threats.
We obviously reject that completely, spokesperson Victoria Nuland said in response to a question about negative perceptions created in Pakistan by a series of statements, particularly controversial claims made by retired Admiral Mike Mullen on the extent of Pakistani contacts with the Haqqani group militants.
We believe and we are trying to make the case to the Pakistani people, as well as to Pakistani leaders, that only working together are we going to defeat this threat to both of us, she clarified, as the US moves towards ending the decade-old conflict in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has strongly rejected assertions that ISI backs Afghan militants for attacks inside Afghanistan, where ten years after the war, the ground situation remains unclear in the face of continuing Taliban insurgency.
The United States is also trying to make it better known in Pakistan about all of the civilian assistance given in an effort to strengthen democracy, education system, economy because that is also one of the best deterrents to extremism, Nuland noted.
Washington, the spokesperson said, has an intense relationship with Pakistan on a number of issues, including on the counterterrorism and noted that Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defence, the head of the CIA have all been in contact in recent weeks with their Pakistani counterparts.
She also referred to special envoy Marc Grossmans imminent visit to Islamabad. We are going to continue working on this issue of counterterrorism together because it is in both of our interests.
On Friday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in an interview that the intelligence and security organizations of the two countries are rebuilding their ties and revealed that Islamabad has captured five Al-Qaeda suspects.
Agencies add: They are doing things to cooperate and be helpful, Clapper said.
Clapper would not comment on the details shared by other US and two Pakistani officials, but confirmed there has been some progress restoring the joint intelligence cooperation that used to be routine, prior to the covert US raid that killed Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan in May.
Clapper and three top CIA officials have held what he described as frank and candid meetings, with Pakistans intelligence chief Lt-Gen Shuja Pasha both in the US and Islamabad since the bin Laden raid.
In what could mark a turning point in US-Pakistani relations, Pakistan has arrested a handful of Al-Qaeda suspects at the CIAs request and allowed the US access to the detainees, US and Pakistani officials said.
Pakistan has also stopped demanding the CIA suspend the covert drone strikes that have damaged Qaedas militant ranks in tribal areas, officials on both sides say though the Pakistanis say they have simply put this on the back burner for now. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive strategic matters.
Only one of the Al-Qaeda figures who was arrested is considered senior, but US and Pakistani officials called the combined moves a trend in the right direction.
For a time, Inter-Services Intelligence agency had refused to carry out any joint operations with American intelligence officers, nor would they allow the Americans access to question militant detainees. Visas as well were hard to come by for US officials of any stripe. The breakdown in relations took on a tit-for-tat quality, with Pakistan expelling most of the US military trainers in the country, and the US cutting off several hundred million dollars in military aid.
There are still bumps, including over recent high-level US criticism of Pakistans ties to militant groups.
Pakistan considered halting some of the increased cooperation after Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen accused ISI of complicity with the militant Haqqani networks attack on the U.S. embassy in neighboring Afghanistan. Mullen levied that charge, the most serious US allegation against Pakistan since the 9/11 attacks, within a few days of leaving his post last month.
Yet against the backdrop of public claim and counterclaim, intelligence officials on both sides say they have laboured to restore communication.
The improved cooperation is a byproduct of mutual need, rather than shared trust at this point, officials concede. Pakistan does not want to risk losing US diplomatic and financial support, and the US needs Pakistani cooperation to continue counterterrorist operations against Al-Qaeda in safe havens. The US military also needs Pakistani consent to use the countrys roads to resupply US forces in Afghanistan.