USAID to reopen offices in Pakistan

The United States development agency, USAID, is to reopen its offices in Pakistan.

Officials say they expect the agency to be fully functioning within the next eight weeks.

USAID closed its Pakistan offices in the mid-1990s when funding was cut off under sanctions imposed because of the country's nuclear programme.

The announcement from USAID coincided with a visit to Islamabad by the commander of the American military operation in Afghanistan, General Tommy Franks.

General Franks met President Pervez Musharraf to discuss the recent crisis over Kashmir and the security situation along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.

General Franks then travelled on to Kabul.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service