Analysis: Another awkward moment in a strained, distrustful alliance

IT IS not difficult to imagine what went through the mind of at least one passenger as she sat waiting for United Airlines Flight 727 to take off from Washington Dulles Airport for Tampa in Florida.

The accent might have made it hard to understand - he was from the Middle East maybe, Muslim probably, and certainly a foreigner - but his words seemed to imply a threat …something about a "final flight".

Cabin crew were summoned amid a passenger rebellion. No-one, it seems, wanted to take the risk of flying with the man and his seven swarthy companions. They were whisked off the flight and subjected to further checks. Only then did the truth emerge. They were members of Pakistan's top brass: a military delegation of senior officers on their way to their annual meeting with their counterparts at US Central Command.

The episode would be comical, were it not for the racist assumptions of the other passengers and what it says about the awkward relations that exist between the US and one of its key allies in the war on terror.

Islamabad and its military are essential to meaningful progress in Afghanistan. Pakistan's role is to mop up safe havens in its lawless tribal areas and help secure the border to prevent the Taleban and al-Qaeda simply shuttling back and forth.

Yet the relationship between the two allies and their publics is fraught with distrust. After the humiliation of being marched off the plane, the officers, including a two-star navy rear admiral, called their superiors in Pakistan and were told to return home.

Talks are now under way to reschedule the trip and smooth over the tensions between two militaries, two peoples and two governments that need each other more than they care to admit. It will not be easy.

As the Pakistani delegation headed home, Nato's top commander in Afghanistan was repeating allegations that its most important ally in the region continued to back militant groups. General David Petraeus said he supported the "legitimate" concerns aired recently by Afghan president Hamid Karzai and his national security adviser Rangin Dadfar Spanta about Pakistan's role in the conflict.

Every repetition of the charge hits a raw nerve in the Pakistani military, which feels its very real sacrifices are not recognised.

So, too, the people of Pakistan who bear the brunt of terrorist attacks carried out by militants headquartered on their land yet feel they are viewed with suspicion when they go abroad.

Is America, they wonder, really a friend when their relatives are subjected to extra security searches at US airports? In short, the relationship is difficult at best; filled with mutual suspicion and fear at worst. Pakistan's government is reluctant to make the public case for closer relations. At the same time, it allows CIA drones to launch missiles at militant targets on its soil. Meanwhile, Washington continues to train, equip and share intelligence with a military that it suspects harbours elements that are working against its interests.

The incident on Flight 727 is just another manifestation of the strains.