WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rushed out of an interview to Dawn/Dawn News to attend a White House Situation Room meeting called to finalise the administration’s new policy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

US President Barack Obama is expected to announce the new policy soon, which is expected to focus on Pakistan as the key player in the fight against extremists.

Secretary Clinton is leaving for Pakistan soon — although the State Department has refused to disclose her itinerary for security reasons — and is expected to brief Pakistani leaders on the new strategy as well.

This was US President Barack Obama’s sixth Situation Room meeting with his national security team on Pakistan and Afghanistan.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, National Security Advisor General (retired) James Jones, Deputy NSA Tom Donilon, John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security and Rahm Emanuel, the White House Chief of Staff also attended the meeting.

Vice President, Joe Biden, who is in Europe, joined the meeting through video conference.

Unlike previous occasions, when President Obama invited more than a dozen people to the meetings, including the US Ambassadors to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Monday’s meeting involved a much smaller group.

All of half-a-dozen people who attended the meeting belong to his close circle of key advisers who are consulted on all major policy decisions.

The Situation Room meeting is part of the overall objective of the Obama administration to find the ‘right strategy’ for Afghanistan and Pakistan.