US State Department denies cancelation of General Mattis’ trip to Pakistan

US State Department denies cancelation of General Mattis’ trip to Pakistan

The US countered an earlier report that General Mattis’ trip to brief Pakistan over the NATO-ISAF investigation report into the November 26 attack, had been cancelled.

The trip, had in fact been, US Department of State spokesperson Mark Toner said on Friday, postponed due to internal political dynamics of Pakistan, and that the US remained committed to a relationship with Pakistan.

Answering questions at the daily briefing he said that Pakistan was going to take some time to study the report.

He added that Pakistani and US officials were in communication over the report. “I know that Ambassador Munter, I believe, met with Foreign Minister Khar, but he also met with, I believe, the interior minister yesterday as well,” adding that more Pakistani
officials will be briefed, “we’re going to continue to offer briefings to senior Pakistani officials.”

Pakistan, hours after the NATO-ISAF report was launched, rejected it, calling it “short on facts” and that a detailed statement would be released when the full report is shared. Pakistan had been offered to become part of the joint probe, however Pakistan
declined the offer.

Toner though confirmed that there would be some amount of payments made to the families of the 24 soldiers killed. “Yes. I think it would be done through Department of Defence, and they have more details on the timing and as well as the amount,” he said.

Responding to questions on whether the US was concerned over the statements coming out of Pakistan of a coup, Toner said that “we [US] support the democratic process in Pakistan, we [US] support the constitution and the rule of law, as well as the will of
the Pakistani people.  We [US] believe, rather, that this is a matter for the Pakistani people to resolve within their own political process.”

With major events like Raymond Davis saga, Abbottabad raid, and lastly the Salala checkpost attack, Toner was asked whether 2011 was possibly the worst in Pakistan-US ties. Toner said that the US and Pakistan had tried to work through each tumultuous turn,
and shown a commitment to work together,

“There have been some significant obstacles throughout this year in the relationship.  But at each juncture, we’ve tried to address those challenges and we have recommitted ourselves to working with Pakistan.  And we’re going to continue to do that because
we believe we need to work with Pakistan.  It’s too important.  The issues that we face, the challenges we face, are too important,” said Toner

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Posted by Ammar Ahmad on Dec 24 2011. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry