ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's allpowerful army chief Ashfaq Pervez Kayani on Monday cancelled his visit to Britain amid escalating tensions with the US over the ISI's links with Afghan insurgent Haqqani network blamed for the last week's attack on Kabul's American embassy.

Kayani was expected to meet privately with UK defence minister Liam Fox during the visit. "Kayani is staying in Pakistan to hold talks on the crisis sparked by the US accusations against the ISI," said a Pakistani official on the condition of anonymity.

Pakistan's army has acknowledged its contacts with the network. "Any intelligence agency would like to maintain contact with whatever opposition group, whatever terrorist organisation ... for some positive outcome," Pakistan's military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told CNN.

But he maintained that such contacts do not mean that the ISI supports the organization. "If someone is blaming us as the only country maintaining contacts with the Haqqanis, there are others, too," Abbas said. "There is a huge difference between maintaining contacts with such a group to facilitate peace and supporting it against an ally."