The United States is reducing its military presence in Pakistan
after Islamabad made a formal request in this regard, the Pentagon has
said.
"We were recently within (the) past two weeks notified in
writing that the government of Pakistan wished for the U.S. to reduce
its footprint in Pakistan.
Accordingly, we have begun those reductions," the CNN quoted Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan, as saying.
Over 200 members of the US military were in the country to train Pakistanis and aid them in using equipment.
The
announcement comes during a week in which Washington has sought to put
relations with Islamabad back on track after its stealth May 1 raid in
which US Navy SEALs flew into Abbottabad and killed Osama bin Laden,
the channel said.
Pakistani government officials have condemned
the raid as a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty, and said that they
did not know the al Qaeda leader had been living there.
But
CIA Director Leon Panetta-nominated by Obama to succeed Robert Gates as
Defense Secretary-told House members during a closed-door briefing
early this month that Pakistan was "either involved or incompetent,"
according to two sources in attendance.
On Tuesday, former
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf joined in condemning the US action.
"No country has a right to intrude into any other country," he told the
channel. "Actually, technically, if you see it legally, it's an act of
war."
At the same time, Washington has demanded specific actions
from the Pakistani government to demonstrate its commitment to rooting
out terrorists in the country.
Last week, Marc Grossman, the
State Department's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan,
travelled to Islamabad, where he delivered a set of demands, saying the
United States is looking for actions, not words from Pakistan.
During
meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari, Army Chief General Pervaiz
Kayani and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lieutenant General
Ahmad Shuja Pasha, Grossman said that the United States is looking for
more cooperation from Pakistan in fighting extremism. (ANI)
