Pakistan has "scaled down" demands for per-truck tax in talks to reopen supply route
Trucks carrying supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan wait at Pakistan's Torkham border crossing after Pakistani authorities shut the vital NATO supply route, Nov. 28, 2011.
/ Getty(CBS News) ISLAMABAD - A senior Pakistani official says his country has "scaled down" the amount it is demanding as a per-vehicle charge on future NATO supply shipments as Islamabad and the U.S. continue to negotiate an end to the dispute surrounding the closure of a land supply route for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
U.S. defense chief Leon Panetta says the detour around Pakistan and through Central Asia is costing the American government $100 million every month.
A senior Pakistani security official confirms to CBS News that the two sides are continuing to "actively negotiate" a solution, in spite of the impression given on Monday when U.S. officials confirmed an American team which had tried for more than a month to reach a deal to reopen the supply route, was returning home from Islamabad.
U.S. finds way around Pakistan route blockage
The route was blocked by Pakistan in November last year after 26 of its soldiers were killed in a U.S. helicopter strike which targeted two Pakistani army posts near the Afghan border. In the past, Pakistani officials are known to have demanded a steep increase in the tariff for each truck carrying supplies to Western forces in Afghanistan via the roadways of Pakistan.
The Pakistani official, who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity, said Pakistan had "scaled down its expectations on the financial compensation," but was still insisting on "a proper and high level apology" - another key demand made by the nation's leaders, and one which has yet to be met to their satisfaction by the Obama administration.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, reiterated that demand during a visit to Kabul on Thursday, saying the U.S. must issue an "unconditional" apology for the killing of the Pakistani soldiers.
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is quoted by the Reuters news agency as telling U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday that using alternate routes to supply troops and remove hardware as the Afghan war is wound down, is costing the American taxpayer approximately "$100 million a month because of the closure (of the Pakistani routes)."
Video: Treacherous tunnel to supply NATO troops
He made the remarks during a U.S. Senate budget hearing.
Pakistan has also demanded an end to the U.S. drone strikes that target suspected Taliban and al Qaeda-linked militants in the nation's tribal region along the Afghan border. Panetta has made it clear that the strikes - which have practically decapitated al Qaeda's leadership over the course of the last year, will not stop.
Since the closure of the supply route in November, Pakistani officials have complained bitterly about the U.S. refusal to acknowledge Islamabad as a key ally, in spite of sacrifices made by the country's own security personnel in fighting Islamic militants.
Panetta: U.S. "reaching the limits of our patience" with Pakistan
"Pakistan is not an enemy of the United States," insisted the senior Pakistani official who briefed CBS News on Thursday. "We have remained an important U.S. ally. Why should the U.S. not be prepared to mend fences with an ally. That's the least that the U.S. can do in recognizing the loss of lives (in the November air strike)."
The Pakistani official also hinted that there maybe some room for compromise on Islamabad's public demand that the drone strikes end.
"We can't have drone strikes as in the past. There has to be some new understanding," he tells CBS News, adding without clarification that, "there are different ideas on the table. We are trying to resolve this matter to suit both the U.S. and Pakistan."
In the past, Pakistani officials have told CBS News in private conversations that they would be willing to discuss alternatives to completely halting the drone program, such as an arrangement where the attacks are jointly managed by the two countries.
U.S. officials have fiercely defended the drone program in the face of mounting criticism, arguing that it offers an invaluable alternative to risky ground operations or the use of low-flying manned aircraft.
In early June, Abu Yahya al-Libi, the second-highest ranking figure in al Qaeda after Ayman al-Zawahiri, was killed in a drone attack inside Pakistan.
A Western defense official in Islamabad, who also spoke to CBS News Thursday on the condition that he not be named, said the deadlock surrounding U.S. relations with Pakistan simply "cannot continue indefinitely," as Washington ramps up its withdrawal of military assets in line with President Obama's stated goal of having the vast majority of combat forces out of Afghanistan by 2014.
"Once we get closer to the withdrawal, U.S.-Pakistan relations will become more important," said the official. "The U.S. needs the route through Pakistan to withdraw large bits of military hardware that will not be left behind in Afghanistan. Right now, I suspect, both sides are trying to draw a very hard bargain. The promising aspect, however, is that it seems the U.S. and Pakistan are still talking. I would have been more concerned if there was a total communication failure."
This story was edited by CBSNews.com's Tucker Reals.Popular on CBSNews.com
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The Pakistani government is nothing but a bunch of uncivilized land pirates.
They are going to continue to have tantrums every time one of their citizens or military personnel are killed; wether by accident or on purpose.
Pakistan continues to get BILLIONS every month from the US, and they are still committing more larceny by charging ridiculous amounts for passage of vital supplies.
That they are on the side of the Taliban and al-Quaeda is indisputable,
They take our money, lie through their teeth constantly and laugh up their sleeves at the United States.
What kind of "ally" is this.
As for the drones being jointly managed.??
Are they kidding.??!!
I wouldn't trust them to jointly manage the construction of a latrine.
Maybe if they had not cut off supply lines to Afghanistan, there might not be the need for drones.
If Panetta caves on this he should fired immediately.
Stop kissing the a**es of Karzai and the Pakistani, because each time we cave in to their demands, the demands get more and more ridiculous and more expensive.
Monetary foreign aid to all countries who are our enemies should be stopped.
If foreign aid is supplied to these traitors; it should be in the form of food, clean water and medicine to sustain those in need; not money to line the pockets of their leaders.
If the US government is worried about leaving "large bits" of equipment behind, they should destroy it before pulling out.
This could be written off as a business loss, and not one more American needs to die for the price of some equipment.
The money saved by leaving Afghanistan would go a long way toward helping our veterans, the families of those who were killed and to support those who were so gravely maimed or wounded they will never be able to live on their own again.
The disregard that Obama and the Pentagon have for the lives of American troops is disgusting.
Even worse is they way our veterans are treated after they return.
Because the VA has a 900,000 backlog of benefit applications.
Even after 10 years, the widow of the first American killed in Afghanistan is still trying to get the benefits she deserves.
Because of "lost" paperwork, improperly completed forms and the amount of proof the VA requires; she is still fighting them.
I have to say though this is typical of any government agency.
The Pentagon and Obama didn't have any problems giving our soldiers two weeks to get their lives together so they could be deployed.
The VA should be required to get their benefits to our veterans in the same amount of time.!!!
Their attitude seems to be; if we deny and delay long enough; maybe they will just go away and not bother us anymore.
GODawful mess.!!!