KABUL - Pakistan on Thursday reiterated its position on reopening a key supply route for Afghanistan-based foreign troops, asking NATO to tender a formal apology for last year's deadly raid.
After the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in the Mohmand tribal region in a cross-border airstrike by ISAF in November last year, Islamabad slapped a ban on supplies for NATO troops through its territory.

Speaking at the Heart of Asia conference, Khar said peace and stability in Afghanistan meant peace in Pakistan as well, and her government supported any Afghan-led process.
There were significant progress in peace and stability in Afghanistan and supporting the achieved outcomes would help Afghans shoulder their responsibilities until 2014 and beyond, added Khar, and assured Pakistan's relentless support for the neighboring country.

Despite challenges facing Pakistan, it is committed to have partnership with Afghanistan. "We have participated in this conference to make it clear that Pakistan wants a peaceful Afghanistan.''
She said development of Pakistan directly linked with stability of Afghanistan, so a strong Afghanistan was important to Pakistan's security, peace and prosperity.

"If Afghanistan wants our support, we are ready to provide any possible help because Pakistan also has interest here,'' said Khar.
Speaking to journalists on the periphery of a regional conference in Kabul, Pakistani Foreign Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar made clear Pakistan would consider reopening the supply lines only if the alliance apologized for the strike.

While spurning reports that her country was wrangling with the US over transportation fees, she said: "Pakistan still wants an unconditional apology and the reassurance that the Salala-type incident does not recur in the future."

Also on Thursday, a spokesman for the foreign ministry in Islamabad said Pakistan had been trying to resolve complicated issues with the United States.
"These issues have become complicated particularly after the Salala incident and both sides are trying to bring their relationship back on track," Foreign Office spokesman Moazzam Ahmad Khan told a weekly media briefing. (Pajhwok)