Pakistan moving to end NATO blockade

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, May 15 (UPI) -- Pakistani officials say they're talking to the United States about the possibility of reopening NATO supply routes.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said Monday the blockade is hurting the country's relationship with NATO member countries, The Express Tribune reported.

"It's not a matter of one, but 43 countries," he told journalists in Islamabad.

Gilani said Pakistan and the United States are "engaged in a dialogue for the resumption of NATO supplies in light of parliament's recommendations."

The Express Tribune said comments from Gilani and other government officials suggest the Pakistani government is ready to drop its demand for a formal U.S. apology over the killing of two dozen Pakistani troops in the airstrikes on border posts in Salala.

"I think we need a closure on that and move on," Foreign Minister Hina Ribbani Khar said.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said Pakistan will not be invited to the NATO summit in Chicago this weekend if the supply routes remain closed.