Amid strained ties, Pak PM summons Hina Rabbani Khar back from US

Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani yesterday called back Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar from the US amid strained ties with Washington following an accusation that Pakistan was supporting the Haqqani terror network.

Khar was called back for consultations over the strained relationship between Pakistan and the US.

Fake smiles? Hina Rabbani Khar with Hillary Clinton last week. pic/afp

US military commanders have accused Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, of supporting the Haqqani network for carrying out two attacks on the US embassy in Kabul and US military base in Afghanistan's Wadak province this month.

Gilani also called an all-party conference to build consensus on Pakistan's stance over the US threats. Khar will attend the conference to brief the parties over Islamabad's ties with Washington.

Gilani also called up President Asif Ali Zardari and took him into confidence regarding the developments.

He also telephonically discussed with different political parties the situation arising out of US accusing Pakistan of supporting Haqqani network.

Ties between Washington and Islamabad have been strained after the May 2 killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad.

They dipped further when the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, on Thursday accused the Pakistani government of supporting the Al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network.

Mullen called the Haqqani network a "veritable arm" of ISI, as he testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the US strategy in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He said the ISI-supported Haqqani network was behind recent attacks in Afghanistan including the Sep 11 truck bomb attack and the Sep 13 assault on the US embassy in Kabul.