Washington: As the trail of the failed Times Square bombing leads to Pakistan, the US has increased the frequency of "high-level contacts" with Islamabad and is "pushing all buttons" to figure out the connection between the plot and the suspect's recent visit to the country.
US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson met the top Pakistani leadership for the second day in succession. She met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
"She is updating Pakistani officials on certain things that we've learned in the investigation. We continue, you know, to work through this together," Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs PJ Crowley, told reporters.
Reluctant to share details of the meeting Patterson had with top Pakistani leadership, Crowley said the US is providing all information that could be useful to Pakistan in taking necessary steps in taking the investigation to a logical conclusion.
"We are informing Pakistan of what we are learning in this investigation, and then there are steps that Pakistan can take," Crowley said, adding that one of the reasons that the US is talking to high-level officials is to operationalise this mutual commitment of cooperation and support.
"I expect that we'll have these high-level contacts and meetings almost every day for the foreseeable future as we work through this investigation. So in certain cases we might ask Pakistan to take certain steps. I'm not sure we're at that point yet," Crowley said.
He said the investigator were "pushing all buttons" to understand what happens in Pakistan and how that was related to the actions taken by terror suspect Faisal Shahzad.
"I can't say at this point that there's any information that Pakistan has identified, at this point, that is useful to our investigation," he said.
He said the US is trying to trace Shahzad's actions and movements during his recent visit to Pakistan. "... who did he meet, and what are the implications of those actions".
"As this investigation goes forward, as we're able to understand, what kind of support might have been given to this individual, at that point, if we find out more along those lines, we'll pass that on to Pakistan. And we would hope that Pakistan will take appropriate action in place," he said.
In response to a question, Crowley appreciated the actions being taken by Pakistan against terrorist organisations over the last couple of years.
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