US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen held counter-terrorism talks with Pakistani army top brass on Wednesday, two days after a suicide bomb killed six people in the capital, officials said. Mullen met General Ashfaq Kayani for a second time following his arrival on Tuesday on a two-day visit, his third trip since February.
The meetings come amid concerns in Washington over peace talks between Taliban militants and the new government in Islamabad. Mullen is not scheduled to meet Musharraf or the new political leadership, said US embassy spokeswoman Elizabeth Colton, adding: "There is no plan for that. The emphasis of the visit is military-to-military cooperation."
Colton said Mullen and his Pakistani counterparts were "going to be continuing their discussion on military-to-military cooperation and specially their co-operative role in the war on terror." "They are going to be discussing terrorist threats here and around the world as well as military exchanges and all the other areas of cooperation between the two strategic allies."
Pakistani military officials confirmed that Mullen held talks on Wednesday with Kayani and joint chiefs of staff chairman General Tariq Majid,, but gave no further details The US general is also set to meet national security adviser Mehmood Durrani, the former ambassador to the United States.
A senior security official told AFP late Tuesday that the peace dialogue with Taliban militants in the rugged tribal region along the Afghan border would figure prominently in talks between the two sides.
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