Kerry Presents Pakistan With U.S. Demands on Militant Concerns

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Fox News:

ISLAMABAD – U.S. Sen. John Kerry gave Pakistan's army chief a list of "specific demands" relating to American suspicions about Pakistan's harboring of militants ahead of meetings Monday that could shape a partnership dangerously strained by the raid that killed Usama bin Laden, a Pakistani official said.

U.S. officials have increased pressure on Pakistan since the May. 2 American raid in Abbottabad -- a northwest Pakistan garrison town where bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs. But they also seem to be trying to balance their anger, aware of the risk of wholly severing ties with the nuclear-armed country. Pakistan's cooperation is considered vital to ending the war in Afghanistan.

Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is the first American emissary to visit Pakistan since the raid. Known to be a friend of Pakistan, what he is told by Pakistani army and civilian leaders could be key to American policy going forward.

Kerry arrived late Sunday and went quickly to see army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, handing him the list of U.S. demands, according to a Pakistani government official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity and declined to give more details because of the sensitivity of the subject.

The U.S. has long pressed Pakistan to take action against several powerful Afghan Taliban factions sheltering on its soil. The leader of the Afghan insurgency, Mullah Omar, is widely believed to be in the southwest Pakistani province of Baluchistan, and allegations he is being harbored by the country have been strengthened since the death of bin Laden.