Islamabad seeks face-saving formula

Islamabad: Pakistan is unlikely to re-open supply routes to Nato troops in Afghanistan unless the United States offers a politically acceptable formula in talks on ending a six-month standoff on the issue, a Pakistani official said yesterday.

The official said the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP)had to be politically savvy, taking into account widespread anti-American sentiment in the country ahead of general elections due by early next year.

"It is not fair for any country to expect any decisions that could be politically harmful ahead of elections," the official, who is familiar with the negotiations, told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Supply routes

The United States has been pushing Pakistan to re-open supply routes to Nato forces in Afghanistan in difficult talks that show no signs of a breakthrough any time soon.

Pakistan closed the routes, seen as vital to the planned withdrawal of most foreign troops from Afghanistan before the end of 2014, in protest against last November's killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in a Nato air attack along the Afghan border.

Higher transit fees are the most difficult issue in Pakistan's talks in the negotiations, said the official. Pakistan was demanding a substantially higher fee than the current $250 per container or per fuel truck that crosses its borders and it was not clear when a deal was possible, he said, without elaborating.