WASHINGTON: ISI chief Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar left for Pakistan on Friday after a visit to the United States as the new head of the country’s prime intelligence agency.

During his four-day stay in Washington, Lt Gen Akhtar held a series of meetings with senior officials at the White House, State Department and the Department of Defence.

Know more: ISI chief holds crucial talks in US

Being a guest of CIA chief John Owen Brennan, he met the heads of all major US intelligence agencies and briefed them on the security situation in the Pak-Afghan region.

At the White House, the ISI chief and his team, which included Director General Counter-terrorism Maj Gen Tariq Qudus, had a detailed meeting with US Homeland Security Adviser Lisa Monaco and her team.

In her current capacity, Ms Monaco is the chief counter-terrorism adviser to the US president.

At the State Department, the ISI team met Deputy Secretary Antony J. Blinken.

Although there was no briefing during or after the meeting, official sources suggest the talks focused on Pakistan’s efforts to facilitate reconciliation between the Taliban and Afghan government.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play