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Published 13 May, 2011 09:00am

Pakistan’s senior military officer cancels visit to US

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's senior military officer, General Khalid Shameem Wynne, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Friday cancelled a scheduled visit to the United States, a military official said.

Alluding to the fallout from a unilateral US commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan on May 2, the senior official told AFP the visit had been cancelled “in view of the prevailing environment”.

“General Khalid Shameem Wynne contacted his counterpart in the US, Admiral Mike Mullen, and informed him about the cancellation of his visit to the US that was scheduled from May 22 to 27,” the official said.

Wynne is the ceremonial head of Pakistan's powerful military establishment that is effectively run by army chief of staff General Ashfaq Kayani.

The Pakistani official told AFP that the visit to the United States had been at the invitation of Mullen and was scheduled a couple of months ago.

Wynne informed Mullen by telephone that he would not be coming, the official added, but declined to give any further details.

Pakistan's civilian government said Thursday it would review counter-terrorism cooperation with the United States.

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