ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — CIA Director Leon Panetta was in Pakistan Friday to meet with senior leaders, including the head of the army, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, head of the country’s spy agency, FOX News Channel reported.
According to a US official, Panetta was there to stress to the Pakistani leaders that Washington will continue to work with them. Ties between the two countries were badly strained after US Navy SEALs killed al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden in his Abbottabad compound on May 2.
Washington had not given Islamabad any warning about the raid.
The official also told FOX Panetta was in Pakistan in his capacity as CIA director, and not as a prelude to his expected new role as Secretary of Defense. On Thursday, Panetta testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee at a confirmation hearing in Washington.