US signs deal with Pakistan on NATO convoys

{mosads}Panel Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) called it a “step to settle things down” in the tense U.S.-Pakistani relationship.

Pakistan closed the routes, which are used to deliver non-lethal supplies, after the United States mistakenly killed 24 Pakistani troops on the border with Afghanistan in November. Pakistan agreed to reopen the routes after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apologized earlier this month.  

The new deal contains a written guarantee that Pakistan will be allowed to scan containers to ensure they do not contain weapons, Britain’s Telegraph reports. The United States also agreed to release $1.1 billion in foreign aid to reimburse Pakistan for the cost of counter-insurgency operations.