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Summary Panetta has ruled out Pakistans demand to pay $5,000 for each NATO container across its territory.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said this in an interview to foreign newspaper before leaving for Chicago to attend NATO summit is scheduled to begin on Sunday. Pakistani officials have demanded that amount as a condition for reopening supply routes that have been closed to the alliance since fall.Considering the financial challenges that were facing, thats not likely, Panetta said of the demand. He also aims to find agreement among allies on the Afghanistan war.Before the supply routes were closed in November after a mistaken U.S. attack on two remote Pakistani border posts that killed two dozen Pakistani troops, NATO convoys were paying an average of about $250 a truck, a senior U.S. official said.
