Obama invites Pakistan's PM to White House as Susan Rice visits Islamabad

President Obama’s national security adviser,Susan Rice, warned Pakistani political and military leaders on Sunday that recent attacks in Afghanistan by militants based in the country threaten regional security, an official said.

Rice also delivered an invitation from Obama for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to visit the US in October, the US National Security Council said.

The meetings came at a tense time for Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan and arch-rival India, along with uncertainty over whether the US will release $300m in military aid to Pakistan.

Media reports have suggested the money could be held back if the US determines Pakistan is not doing enough to combat the Haqqani network, accused of some of the deadliest attacks in neighbouring Afghanistan.

A senior US official who briefed reporters in Islamabad said Rice brought up this month’s rash of attacks that killed more than 50 people in the Afghan capital as an example of how militants based in Pakistan continue to destabilise much of south Asia.

“We think a series of recent deadly attacks in Kabul were perpetrated by the Haqqani network,” the official said. “This is absolutely unacceptable.”

In 2011, the Haqqani network was described as a “veritable arm” of the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency – Pakistan’s powerful military spy wing – by the then chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Pakistan denies supporting the Haqqani network, an Islamist movement loosely allied with both the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaida. - Read More at the Guardian

Obama invites Pakistan's PM to White House as Susan Rice visits Islamabad