US-Pak talks fail as America angry over attacks in Kabul

 High level US-Pak talks to break a diplomatic deadlock have ended in failure after Washington refused to tender an apology to Pakistan over a recent cross-border raid as it was angered by new Taliban attacks on Afghan capital Kabul.

Marc Grossman, the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan left Islamabad yesterday with no agreement after two days of discussions aimed at patching up the damage caused by American airstrikes last November that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, the New York Times reported.

Pakistan had demanded an unconditional apology from the US over the incident, but the talks ended in failure, as the White House, "angered by the recent spectacular Taliban attacks in Afghanistan, refuses to apologise," it said.

The US and Pakistan insist that they are ready to patch up and restore an uneasy alliance that at its best offers support for American efforts in Afghanistan as well as the battle against some extremist groups operating from Pakistan, it said.

The administration had been seriously debating whether to say "sorry" to the Pakistanis' satisfaction.

However things changed on April 15 when multiple, simultaneous attacks struck Kabul and other Afghan cities.

"What changed was the 15th of April," said a senior administration official in the report.
American military and intelligence officials concluded the attacks came at the direction of Haqqani network, a group working from North Waziristan in Pakistan's tribal belt.
"That confirmed longstanding American mistrust about Pakistani intentions — a poison that infects nearly every other aspect of the strained relationship.

That swung the raging debate on whether Obama or another senior American should go beyond the expression of regret that the administration had already given, and apologise," the report said.

Pakistani officials have said in the absence of an apology, they cannot reopen NATO supply routes into Afghanistan that have been closed since November.