Washington, May 31 (ANI): U.S. Assistant Defense Secretary Peter Levoy would be returning to Islamabad next week to lead the American team which is negotiating a resolution to the NATO routes dispute with Pakistan, diplomatic sources have said.

Levoy, who is in charge of Asia and Pacific security affairs at the Pentagon, had led the U.S. contingent at an April 26 meeting with Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar in Islamabad.

However, according to U.S. media reports, Levoy and his team left the meeting abruptly because of certain remarks made by Khar, reports The Dawn.

The remarks, according to the media reports, were linked to Pakistan's demand for an apology from the U.S. over the November 26 air raid that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and prodded Islamabad to close the NATO supply routes to Afghanistan.

Since then Pakistan has stopped insisting on an apology as a precondition for reopening the routes. The concession enabled President Asif Ali Zardari to attend the May 20-21 NATO summit in Chicago, but his inability to resolve the route dispute further complicated already tense relations between the two countries.

The two sides are now working on a compromise formula to resolve the supply routes dispute, which will require the United States to rebuild the highways damaged by NATO convoys. (ANI)