Staff Report

RAWALPINDI: The army top brass on Wednesday reviewed reopen ground supply lines for US and NATO troops fighting in Afghanistan, SAMAA reports.

Sources say Pakistan and the United States are on the verge of clinching an agreement to resume the supply line after President Asif Ali Zardari received an invite on Tuesday to attend a summit of NATO leaders this weekend in Chicago.

Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani chaired the meeting and brief the commanders about decisions on the issue taken in session of Defence Committee of the Cabinet on Tuesday.

The committee, which met under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, also reiterated Pakistan's stance that only non-lethal cargo will be allowed to transit the country.

It decided that the military authorities should negotiate fresh border ground rules with NATO/ISAF to ensure that Salala-like incidents do not reoccur.

Reopening the supply route would be a major breakthrough in ties between Washington and Islamabad. Strained relations have fuelled speculation Pakistan might be excluded from NATO talks on Afghanistan's future. -- SAMAA