ISLAMABAD – New York Timeslink>claimsthat relations between Pakistan and US soured after Pakistan refused togive access to the United States to one of the abductors of theAmerican-Canadian couple, who were recovered earlier in October.
The newspaper claims that one of the abductors of the couple was alsoarrested at the same time the couple was rescued.
“When Pakistani forces freed a Canadian-American family this fall heldcaptive by militants, they also captured one of the abductors. UnitedStates officials saw a potential windfall: He was a member of theTaliban-linked Haqqani network who could perhaps provide valuableinformation about at least one other American hostage,” says the report.
The US had demanded access to the suspect, but the request was rejected byPakistani officials – “the latest disagreement in the increasinglydysfunctional relationship between the countries.”
In response, the Trump administration is considering to withhold $255million in aid that it had delayed sending to Islamabad, the newspaper said.
On October 12, the Pakistan Army recovered five foreign hostages who wereheld as captives in Afghanistan, said a statement released by the Army’smedia wing.
The hostages, a Canadian, his US national wife and their three childrenwere rescued from the captivity of terrorists, after the couple wascaptured in Afghanistan in 2012, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR)said.[image: an image]
US intelligence services had been tracking the movement of the hostages andinformed their Pakistani partners when the hostages were moved across thePak-Afghan border into Kurram Agency on October 11, 2017.
The Army further said that the successful execution of the hostage-rescueoperation underscored the importance of timely intelligence sharing andPakistan’s continued commitment towards fighting this menace throughcooperation between two forces against a common enemy.
American Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle werekidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012.