Pak being pressurized by US to provide more details of air passengers

Pak being pressurized by US to provide more details of air passengersAmerican officials have revealed that in the wake of the failed Times Square bombing plot, the United States is pressing Pakistan to provide more broader information regarding air passengers, which would enable investigators to track the travel patterns of suspected persons.

The Obama administration is piling up pressure on Islamabad for information on Pakistanis who fly to other countries, to feed into databases that can detect patterns used by terrorists, their financiers, logisticians and others who support them, officials have said.

The New York Times cited two senior US officials, who spoke on conditions of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, as saying that the issue is now on the "short list" of sticking points between the two countries.

The report noted that Pakistan currently provides only the names of airline passengers traveling to the United States.

Pakistan, however, is yet to respond to the US' demands, they said.

In case of Pakistan, American officials are seeking details like the recent travel histories of airline passengers and how they paid for their tickets.

It was also disclosed by the officials that President Barack Obama himself has given his officials a deadline of next few weeks to resolve the issue with Islamabad.

While referring to the recent visit of the top Obama aides to Islamabad, officials said, "That pressure to deliver results has prompted senior officials like General James Jones, the National Security Adviser, and Leon Panetta, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), to warn senior Pakistani leaders of the risks to the country's relationship with the United States if a deadly terrorist attack originated in their country." (With Inputs from Agencies)