Deal in sight on NATO supply issue: Report

Islamabad, May 20 (IANS) Britain has mediated a deal between Pakistan and the US to reopen NATO supply lines to Afghanistan through the country, a media report said Sunday.

A top British lawmaker reportedly said that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has given a positive signal to his British counterpart David Cameron for the resumption of supply lines during a one-to-one meeting between the two leaders earlier this month in london.

The development was not disclosed in the joint statement then issued by the 10 Downing Street because it might have triggered protests in Pakistan, Daily Times reported.

The report said Britain did not want to embarrass President Asif Ali Zardari and Gilani before a NATO conference in Chicago May 20-21.

Wajid Shamsul Hassan, Pakistan's high commissioner to Britain, however told the website that he did not know about the one-to-one meeting, and that the restoration of the supply lines will be decided by parliament and not by Gilani alone.

President Zardari has been invited to attend the NATO summit that will focus on plans to hand over Afghanistan's security control to Afghan forces and withdrawal of foreign combat troops by 2014.