By IANS,
Islamabad : The US has told Pakistan to ensure safe recovery of its national who was abducted from Lahore.
Warren Weinstein, 63, was kidnapped Aug 13 from his home in Lahore.
The daily Dawn quoted diplomatic sources as saying that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made that demand during her telephone call to Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.
The Pakistani foreign office said the two leaders’ conversation was about “carrying forward the trajectory of bilateral relations”.
But, Khar’s meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani after Clinton called her up and Interior Minister Rahman Malik’s subsequent meeting with Gilani has led to speculation that the US was putting pressure to get the early release of Weinstein.
Police Thursday released a sketch of a man accused of being involved in Weinstein’s kidnapping.
Weinstein, a university professor, was associated with poverty alleviation and economic development projects.
A US undercover agent, Raymond Davis, had fatally shot two Pakistanis in Lahore in February, which caused deep rift in relationship between the intelligence agencies of the two countries.
The ties between Islamabad and Washington were further strained after the May 2 killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad by US commandos in a sneak raid.