Muscat rendezvous: Adm Mullen, Gen Kayani discuss war on terror

Top military commanders from the US and Pakistan hold talks in the Gulf.

MUSCAT: Top military commanders from the US and Pakistan held talks in the Gulf on Wednesday in what Islamabad called a move to coordinate better the war against the Taliban and al Qaeda on the Afghan border.

Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Kayani met in Oman’s capital Muscat.

The US wants Pakistan to eliminate bases used by the Taliban and the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network on its side of the border with Afghanistan, where 140,000 US-led Nato troops are trying to speed an end to the war.

A US military official described the meeting as “very candid” with “very productive discussions”. General David Petraeus, the commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan, also took part in the talks.

The Pakistani military said the meeting was focused on regional security and would “explore new ways to better coordinate military operations”.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2011.