WASHINGTON: Ending months of estrangement, Pakistan military has allowed CIA to resume its normal operations in the country with Islamabad approving 87 visas for the agency sleuths.
The logjam was broken during the crucial visit of Pakistan's military run ISI's chief lt gen Shuja Ahmed Pasha here with Islamabad and Washington framing out new rules of engagement, a media report said.
"That will bring the agency back toward normal operations in Pakistan, after what was a low point after the January arrest of CIA contractor Raymond Davis," the Washington Post said.
"Under new rules of the road, the CIA — in theory, — swill share with the Pakistanis more information about what its operatives are doing in the country. For example, that joint CIA-ISI counter-terrorism operations have resumed."
A tricky issue is the fate of Shakil Afridi, a Pakistani doctor who was arrested by the ISI in May for allegedly helping the CIA try to identify DNA of Osama bin Laden's family by running a private vaccination campaign in Abbottabad before the May 2 raid on bin Laden's compound.
"US officials are said to have pressed for Afridi's release. The Pakistani countered that, because Afridi is a Pashtun who works in Khyber Agency in the tribal areas, certain tribal customs for compensation of victims must first be satisfied," the daily said.
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