OSINT SUGGESTS US-PAKISTAN RELATIONS IMPROVING

Farhan Bokhari, a JDW Correspondent in Islamabad believes the recent increase in al-Qaeda arrests points to warming of US-Pakistan relations'. According to Bokhari's sources in Islamabad, Pakistan and the United States have quietly resumed intelligence-sharing co-operation and are actively discussing ways to rebuild the military co-operation that was curtailed in May after US special forces killed Osama bin Laden in the northern Pakistani city of Abbottabad, high-ranking Pakistani and Western defence and security officials have told Jane's .


Tangible evidence on the resumption of intelligence and possible military co-operation came on 5 May when Pakistan Army and US officials revealed the arrest of Sheikh Younis al-Mauritani, a high-level Al-Qaeda militant, outside the western Pakistani city of Quetta. Significantly, both sides confirmed that the arrest had been carried out in a joint operation by US and Pakistani intelligence services.


Analysis
The arrest of Sheikh Younis al-Mauritani and the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks reinforce the importance to the US of security co-operation with countries like Pakistan that are home to Islamist groups and others intent on launching terrorist attacks against Western nations.


The anniversary of the attacks on the US mainland also serves to highlight the major change in security priorities for Washington over the past 10 years – and the convoluted relationship it has had with Islamabad since the mid-1960s.


Pakistan remains suspicious of US intentions and regularly contrasts the relationship with China's 'all-weather friendship'. The Bin Laden raid and its fallout brought this into sharp relief, although Pakistan's attempts to cosy up to its eastern ally were treated with a certain amount of detachment by Beijing.


The drawdown of US forces in Afghanistan and their eventual combat withdrawal in 2014 will probably alleviate US-Pakistan tensions. However, the reduction in US interests in Afghanistan also risks restarting the cycle of neglect and self-interested intervention that has characterised US policy towards Pakistan since ties were first established.

Note: The content and analysis of this article was conducted by Farhan Bokhari, a JDW Correspondent in Islamabad, not by OSINT NEWS. However, we discovered this article and other information about the warming of U.S./Pakistani relations after reviewing Pakistan News, Pakistan Dawn, and One Pakistan, three of Pakistan's top newspapers. OSINT analysts would enjoy a site that accesses many foreign newspapers, that print editions in English at Foreign Newspapers