Pakistan Intelligence Chief Heads to U.S. for Talks

Pakistan's head of intelligence, Ahmad Shuja Pasha, flew to Washington on Wednesday for talks as relations between the two allies in the war on al-Qaida hit fresh lows over U.S. aid cuts.

During his one-day visit, the director general of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency will hold talks with senior U.S. officials.

"He is going there to discuss the intelligence coordination," Pakistani army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told Agence France Presse.

The United States has decided to withhold a third of its annual $2.7 billion security assistance to Islamabad after Pakistan ordered dozens of military trainers to leave following a U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

The cuts of $800 million reportedly include about $300 million used to reimburse Pakistan for costs of deploying more than 100,000 soldiers along the Afghan border, a hotbed of Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants.