WASHINGTON: The US State Department rejected on Tuesday the suggestion that Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif’s long stay in the United States had any hidden motive.

The department’s Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf told a briefing in Washington that since US Secretary of State John Kerry was out of the country when Gen Sharif first came to Washington two weeks ago, the two sides decided to have the meeting on Nov 30.

She noted that Secretary Kerry was travelling in Europe when the army chief came.

When a reporter asked why should the army chief stay away for so long from a country which faced a serious security problem, she said: “I do not have any analysis to do that for you.”

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2014