Pakistan’s Zardari visits No 10
By Alex Stevenson
Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari has held talks with Gordon Brown in Downing Street.
Speaking at a joint press conference afterwards, Mr Brown announced £12 million for Pakistan, while the president was forced to deny reports that his government now controls less than 40 per cent of the border with Afghanistan.
Mr Zardari, the widower of iconic leader Benazir Bhutto, is expected to explain to the prime minister the thinking behind his government’s deployment of 15,000 troops in the Swat valley against the Taliban last week.
Ongoing fighting in the Malakand region since then has forced 83,000 internally displaced people to flee, leaving the UN claiming refugee levels are critical.
The UK government pledged an additional £10 million in humanitarian assistance. It says the total number displaced people across Pakistan’s Federally Autonomous Tribal Regions has reached one million and that its aid will provide food, water and shelter to those most in need.
International development secretary Douglas Alexander said yesterday: “The UK stands ready to assist the government of Pakistan to combat the shared threat of violent extremism and we remain strongly committed to our partnership with the people of Pakistan.”
On Monday the Pakistani government claimed to have killed 700 militants in an air attack. It faces a major challenge as it struggles to confront fighters loyal to the Taliban in the mountainous border region.
Last month Mr Brown announced a new strategy for dealing with the situation in Afghanistan, placing the emphasis towards the border regions.
Mr Zardari used his No 10 visit to brief the prime minister on a recent meeting between himself, US president Barack Obama and Afghan president Hamid Karzai.
The press conference follows an apparent snubbing of Mr Brown by Mr Zardari in Pakistan on the prime minister’s recent trip.
Mr Brown had told reporters a joint press conference would take place in Islamabad, but he was subsequently downgraded to a conference with Pakistani premier Yousuf Raza Gilani.
