Pakistan Spy Chief Heads To U.S. As Ties Founder

Reuters reports:

The head of Pakistan's powerful spy agency headed for Washington on Wednesday for unscheduled talks, the military said, days after the United States suspended a third of military aid over deepening tensions in their relationship.

Few details were available about Lieutenant-General Ahmad Shuja Pasha's one-day trip, but it comes at a time when the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the military's intelligence wing, is under intense pressure to sever ties with militant groups including those it has long nurtured as assets in Afghanistan and India.

Relations between the intelligence establishments of the two countries have been on a downward spiral since January after a CIA contractor killed two Pakistanis with joint operations against militants suspended soon after.

Then, in May, the killing of Osama bin Laden in a secret raid by U.S. special forces further damaged the relationship, with Pakistan branding the operation a violation of its sovereignty.

Pasha was going to Washington to "coordinate intelligence matters," the military said in a one-line statement and an official said it signaled efforts to patch up ties.