PAKISTANI DEATHS IN U.S. AIRSTRIKE STRAIN RELATIONS.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- American officials pressed their Pakistani counterparts on Thursday to reopen a vital supply route for American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, as relations deteriorated after the fourth strike by coalition helicopters in a week killed three members of Pakistan's border force. Pakistan angrily closed the crossing to protest the strikes on its side of the border, leaving American officials to use meetings and phone calls to try to soothe relations and get the route reopened. Both sides indicated that they might be able to resolve the dispute with a joint investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]