Questions over UN envoy’s ties to Pakistan’s Zardari: report

Updated at: 0304 PST,  Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Questions over UN envoy WASHINGTON: Senior officials in the administration of US President George W. Bush have questioned US ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad over “unauthorized” ties to Pakistan’s Asif Ali Zardari, a U.S. newspaper reported Tuesday.

US officials, who have insisted on their neutrality in the Pakistan political process, are puzzled and angry over Khalilzad’s frequent contact with Zardari, the widower of Benzir Bhutto and a presidential contender, the report said.

Khalilzad had spoken with Zardari by phone “several times a week for the past month until he was confronted about the unauthorized contacts,” newspaper quoted a senior US official as saying.

According to the text of an email obtained by the newspaper, assistant secretary of state Richard Boucher asked Khalilzad about the nature of his contacts after learning that Khalilzad sought to provide Zardari with “advice and help.”

“Can I ask what sort of ‘advice and help’ you are providing?” the email said. “What sort of channel is this? Government, private, personal?”

Khalilzad, who was a close ally of Bhutto’s before she was slain last year, cancelled a meeting with Zardari planned for next Tuesday while he vacations in Dubai, after Boucher learned of his plans, the report said.