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ISI Chief Zaheer ul-Islam. - File Photo

ISLAMABAD: Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief Lt Gen Zaheer ul Islam returned to Pakistan on Sunday after his visit to Washington, DawnNews reported.

The ISI Chief  will submit a detailed report of his US trip to Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, sources said.

Lieutenant General Zaheer ul-Islam, the new head of the ISI agency, was paying the first visit to Washington in a year by the leader of Pakistan’s powerful spy body.

Islam held meeting on Thursday with Central Intelligence Agency director David Petraeus and held “substantive, professional and productive” talks, a senior US official said on condition of anonymity.

ISI Chief had an important policy meeting at the State Department on Thursday with President Barack Obama’s special coordinator for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Lt Gen Douglas E. Lute.

US Special Envoy Marc Grossman also attended the meeting. “Both sides stated their positions on various issues,” said an official source, “expressing their desire to rebuild this important relationship”.

On Wednesday night, Gen Islam had met with CIA deputy director Michael J. Morrell at the residence of Pakistan’s Ambassador Sherry Rehman. This was his first meeting with a senior CIA official before the formal talks with Gen Petraeus at the CIA headquarters.

“Both sides are focusing on increasing intelligence cooperation between the United States and Pakistan,” said an official source when asked what was discussed in these meetings.

The dinner at Ambassador Rehman’s residence also attracted congressional heavyweights including chairs of the Senate Intelligence Committee Dianne Feinstein and the House Intelligence Mike Rogers. Ranking members of the two committees were also present.

Senator John Kerry, who chairs the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, also dropped in for a long pre-dinner conversation, despite a prior engagement.

They also discussed various options for dealing with joint concerns in the war against terror.

There were no discussions on operational details as the two intelligence chiefs were dealing with such details at their closed-door meeting at Langley, the CIA headquarters in Virginia, sources said.

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