The leaked Pentagon documents reveal the increasing American frustration with Islamabad’s ambiguous policy toward terrorism and how the US is basically at war in Afghanistan with elements of the Pakistani establishment, U.S. experts feel.

“The leaked documents do reveal a level of US frustration with Pakistan’s dual policy of fighting some extremists while harbouring others that is not always apparent in US official statements praising Pakistan as a steadfast ally in the war on terrorism,” noted South Asian expert, Lisa Curtis, of the Heritage Foundation said.

As Pakistan readies to discuss all issues including Jammu and Kashmir with India at the ministerial level, the Foreign Office and a section of the strategic community is hoping New Delhi will show some visible sign of accommodation that will allow Islamabad to stay the course of peace talks.

Though encouraged by the “atmospherics” of the June 24 Foreign Secretary-level talks and the prevalent mood since, the Foreign Office is keeping expectations low with the refrain that the aim would be to identify the doable and address the trust deficit.

Pakistan on Tuesday once and for all rejected Afghanistan’s demand of opening up its eastern borders to allow the landlocked state to trade with India, dimming prospects of an early agreement on a new transit trade treaty.

Sources within the Finance Ministry said that visiting Afghan Finance Minister, Omar Zakhilwal, proposed the addition of a clause to the new Pak-Afghan transit trade agreement that could enable Kabul to renegotiate the possibility of trading with New Delhi after three to four years.

Pakistani security officials say a suspected U.S. missile strike has killed at least 10 militants, including a suspected al-Qaida operative, in the country’s northwest.

Officials say a drone fired two missiles at a compound near Wana, the main town in the South Waziristan tribal region on Tuesday. Foreign fighters were said to be among those killed. More >

Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Tuesday his country is not bound by US laws in regard to its gas deal with Iran.

Pakistan will follow the international laws and not US restrictions, Xinhua quoted Gilani as saying.

US special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke Sunday warned Islamabad against the deal intended to bring Iranian gas to Pakistan.

Police in Pakistan have detained an armed 52-year-old American man for allegedly trying to cross the border into Afghanistan to hunt and kill fugitive al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.

Pakistani authorities have identified the suspect as Gary Faulkner, a resident of California.

They say police arrested the man early this week in the northwestern mountainous district of Chitral, which borders Afghanistan’s eastern Nuristan Province.

Nigeria’s State Minister for Defence Murtala Shehu Yar’Adua on Tuesday called on Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar along with his delegation and both sides agreed to further broaden bilateral cooperation in defence, trade and economy for the mutual benefits of the two countries. Talking to the delegation, Mukhtar said that Pakistan attached utmost importance to its relations with Nigeria as the two countries enjoyed excellent relations and had unanimity of opinion on regional and international issues.

Facebook said on Tuesday that it has blocked users in Pakistan from accessing the ‘Everybody Draw Mohammed Day !’ page on its site out of respect for local standards and customs.

The Web site adopted a similar approach in India about a week ago when it was approached by Indian authorities in connection with the page, which has annoyed Muslims in many countries.

The alleged ringleader of an al-Qaida bomb plot and another man regarded as a serious danger to national security can’t be deported to their native Pakistan because they risk being tortured in their homeland, a British court ruled Tuesday.

The Special Immigration Appeals Commission said Abid Naseer, 24, and Ahmed Faraz Khan, 26, can’t be forcibly removed to Pakistan, because of the likelihood they would be mistreated. Judge John Mitting and two colleagues made the ruling despite labeling Naseer an al-Qaida operative and suggesting Khan was “willing to participate” in a terror attack.

American drone aircraft fired 18 missiles at militants in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region on Tuesday, killing at least 14 fighters and wounding four, a security official and a resident of the area said.

The missiles struck a region known as Datta Khel on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border where Taliban and Qaeda fighters prepare for operations against United States and NATO troops in Afghanistan.