YOUNIS Al Mauritani’s arrest could well mark the renewal of active anti-terrorism cooperation between the ISI and US intelligence agencies after months of mutual distrust and unseemly public mudslinging. On Monday, while announcing the catch, both Islamabad and Washington emphasised the bilateral efforts that had gone into the arrest of Sheikh Mauritani — dubbed Al Qaeda’s ‘foreign minister’ — and two of his colleagues in a Quetta suburb and pledged future cooperation. While Islamabad said the arrest was “planned and conducted with the technical assistance” of American agencies, a White House spokesman stated that the US continued to work “with our part-ner Pakistan”. Mercifully, some sense now appears to have dawned. US-Pakistan ties had been deteriorating since the Raymond Davis affair in February and nosedived after the Abbottabad raid, triggering a row that seemed to uproot the relationship between America and a country that enjoyed the status of a major non-Nato ally. The relationship seemed to spin out of control when some American officials publicly cast doubt on Pakistan’s commitment to fighting terrorism and raised concerns about terrorist safe havens in Pakistan in a tone that appeared to disregard the country’s own losses in terms of men and material. Certain voices in Congress demanded a total cut-off of aid to Pakistan and the administration decided to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid.

It appears, however, that broader geopolitical considerations have now managed to gain the upper hand, with both countries realising what is at stake. The latest thaw comes after Islamabad had to some degree been controlling its anger over the May 2 raid and senior American officials had on occasion been taking a softer line and mentioning that Pakistan plays a pivotal role in both the fight against terrorism and in any final settlement in Afghanistan. True, many issues still remain to be sorted out if Pakistan and the US are to overcome mutual distrust. But Sheikh Mauritani’s arrest, and the positive reactions of both sides, could well herald a return to the pre-Davis state of intelligence cooperation.