ISI chief in Saudi to discuss worsening US-Pak ties

Chief of Pakistani intelligence agency Inter Services Intelligence Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha on Monday rushed to Saudi Arabia after holding talks with Saudi intelligence officials in Islamabad who had come on King Abdullah's direction to cool down growing tensions between Pakistan and the United States, media reports said.

On the special directive of Saudi King Abdullah, Saudi intelligence officials dashed to Pakistan and held wide ranging interaction with ISI chief Pasha and other concerned officials, The Nation newspaper reported on its website.

Saudi officials met Pasha at Chaklala base and conveyed a positive signal of considerable support to ISI officials during the meeting, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

After the meeting, ISI Chief Pasha dashed to Saudi Arabia by a special plane, The Nation reported, adding that Pasha is expected to hold meetings with heads of Saudi Intelligence and armed forces there.

The tension between Pakistan and US escalated following accusations by top Obama administration officials that ISI had supported the Haqqani network for carrying out a string of attacks against American interests in Afghanistan, including the recent attack on its embassy in Kabul.

The Nation, quoting its sources, said Pasha proceeded to Saudi Arabia on the directive of the political and military leadership because the Kingdom is a close ally of Pakistan and had in the past helped it come out of several crises.

Meanwhile, China's top security official and Vice Prime Minister Meng Jianzhou arrived in Islamabad on Monday on a two day visit.

The Express Tribune reported that "a trilateral meeting between intelligence officials from Saudi Arabia, China and Pakistan will held in Islamabad today." The meeting will focus on US allegations against Pakistan and the future course of action in this regard, it said.

Meanwhile, striking back at the US for accusing ISI of supporting the deadly Haqqani network, Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said the terror group was CIA's "blue-eyed boy" for many years.

Responding to questions, Khar, who is in New York leading Pakistan's delegation at the UN General Assembly, rejected US accusations against the military-run ISI, saying it has no links to the Haqqani network, accused of the recent attack on the American embassy in Kabul.

"If we talk about links, I am sure the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) also has links with many terrorist organisations around the world, by which we mean intelligence links," she told Al Jazeera news channel.

"And this particular network, which (the United States) continues to talk about, is a network which was the blue-eyed boy of the CIA itself for many years," she added.