ISLAMABAD, Feb 12: A top US official paid a secret visit to Islamabad on Wednesday, sources said. The sources said the official with a 24-member delegation arrived at the Chaklala airbase at around 7pm on Wednesday and left the country on Thursday afternoon.

Foreign office spokesman Masood Khan denied the presence or a 'short visit' by a US delegation to Islamabad. "I can tell you flat that this is not true," he told Dawn.

ISPR director-general Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan said he was not aware if any senior US official had visited the capital. Other sources claimed that most members of the US delegation checked into two leading hotels in the city while the top man himself stayed at the US Embassy.

They said there was a movement of the American VVIP in the morning because of which traffic remained jam for quite some time in all directions on the VVIP route between Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

These sources also claimed that 'something important' was likely to happen shortly because the international media - teams of NBC, CBS, CNN and BBC - had started converging in Islamabad.