US to shift Pakistan plans for former Guantanamo commander

Washington: The US military has dropped plans to assign the former commander of Guantanamo Bay prison to Pakistan after sharp criticism of his performance, a newspaper reported on Friday.

However, the decision to withdraw the assignment of Army Major General Jay Hood in Pakistan has not been formally announced, the New York Times reported.

During Hood's command from 2004 to 2006, military authorities used tubes to force-feed detainees at the military prison in Cuba.

The newspaper said it was not clear whether Pakistan's new government had requested the appointment be canceled.

Hood had been expected to take over as chief of a division of the US Embassy in Islamabad known as the Office of the Defense Representative to Pakistan, the New York Times said.