NO new accord on NATO supply route: US diplomat

ISLAMABAD (PAN.

US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Richard Hoagland told reporters that relations between the two countries were resumed from the point where they had been left in November last year.

Pakistan closed the key supply line for Afghanistan-based international troops after 24 of its soldiers were killed in a cross-border air raid by coalition troops more than seven months ago.

Following lengthy negotiations, the route was reopened two days back in line with the federal cabinet’s decision. On Thursday, a pair of NATO supply trucks crossed the Chaman border crossing into Kandahar province.

The supply line restoration would help eliminate the trust deficit in Pakistan-US relations, Hoagland hoped.

Separately, Adviser to Prime Minister Rehman Malik said that security for NATO containers would be provided by Pakistan Rangers and other law-enforcement agencies.

All provincial police chiefs had been directed to provide security for the containers in their respective bailiwicks, he said, adding that Rangers would do the job in Sindh and police and Frontier Constabulary would escort the trucks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

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