WASHINGTON, March 6: The US commander responsible for American military efforts in the Pak-Afghan region told a Senate panel on Tuesday that he would travel to Pakistan in about 10 days for talks on reopening ground supply routes.

Pakistan closed Nato supply routes to Afghanistan after the Nov 26 attack on its military post that killed 24 soldiers.

At a hearing at the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. James Mattis, commander of US Central Command, said the United States needed those routes to reopen to facilitate the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

Last week, Gen. William Fraser, commander of the US Transport Command, told the same congressional panel that overland cargo routes through Pakistan must be reopened for the United States to complete its pullout from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

Gen. Fraser said the Northern Distribution Network, which passes through Central Asia, was unable to handle the large number ofshipments or all types of cargo and that the failure to reopen the Pakistan route could delay the withdrawal schedule.

Gen. Mattis was scheduled to visit Pakistan last month for similar talks but the visit was delayed because Pakistan wanted the general to come after it finalises parliamentary recommendations for rebuilding its ties with the United States.

Diplomatic sources told Dawn that a joint parliamentary session needed to finalise the recommendations could be held by March 17, paving the way for Gen. Mattis and other US officials to visit Islamabad.

Besides Gen. Mattis, US Special Envoy Marc Grossman and USAID chief Rajiv Shah are also interested in visiting Pakistan and are waiting for a go-ahead from Islamabad.The New York Times reported last month that during his talks with Pakistani military leaders, Gen. Mattis might also apologise over the Nov. 26 incident, as Pakistan had demanded.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also was expected to convey an apology to Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar in a meeting in London last month but the burning of Holy Quran in Afghanistan delayed the gesture.

President Barack Obama had to apologise to his Afghan counterpart over the burning and senior officials in his administration felt that two apologies in a short period of time could hurt his re-election campaign.