US
walks out of Pakistan supply route talks
United
States negotiators have quit talks in Pakistan after failing to reach
a deal to reopen a supply route to NATO troops in Afghanistan
ABC,
12
June, 2012
Pakistan
shut its border to NATO supply convoys in November after a botched US
air strike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
Pentagon
spokesman George Little said negotiations had been going on for about
six weeks but said: "The decision was reached to bring the team
home for a short period of time."
He
said there was no scheduled date for a resumption of the
negotiations.
But
the US insisted the departure of the negotiating team did not mean
Washington had given up discussions with Islamabad.
"That's
not to be taken as a sign of our unwillingness to continue the
dialogue with Pakistanis on this issue," Mr Little said.
He
said the negotiators were "prepared to return at any moment".
The
roads through Pakistan are a crucial logistical link for NATO and
will be key to plans for a large-scale withdrawal of combat troops
and equipment from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
US
officials have so far rejected Pakistani proposals to charge fees of
several thousand dollars for each alliance truck crossing the border.
Washington
has also refused to issue an explicit apology for the air raid which
killed the Pakistani soldiers.
With
the Pakistani roads shut, the US-led NATO force has relied on cargo
flights and northern supply routes negotiated with Russia and a
network of governments in Central Asia and the Caucasus.
But
the northern routes are much longer and more expensive than the
Pakistan roads.
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