Senator John Kerry visits Pakistan to repair ties

"John Kerry has met Pakistani prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on a visit that the senior US senator described as "crucial".

Monday's visit to Islamabad was designed to ease distrust, given the tense relations between the two countries following the killing of Osama bin Laden by US forces on Pakistani soil.

President Asif Ali Zardari, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the army chief, Rehman Malik, the interior minister, and Cameron Munter, the US ambassador in Pakistan, were also present at the meeting.

Kerry, a Democrat close to the Obama administration who is also chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Pakistan the US had "grave concerns" that the al-Qaeda leader was found in Pakistan, and that Congress was now scrutinising Washington's ties with its strategic ally"