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| India-Pakistan |
| Bush ready to work with Pakistan's new PM: White House |
| 2008-03-25 |
| US President George W. Bush spoke on Tuesday by telephone to Pakistan's new Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on the importance of the fight against terrorism and expressed his readiness to work with the new leader, the White House said. Bush congratulated Gilani on becoming prime minister and "said he looks forward to working with him and the new government of Pakistan," spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters. "He reiterated that Pakistan is an important ally and country, and the two leaders agreed that fighting extremists is in everyone's interest," she told reporters about the phone call at 7:50 am (1150 GMT). Earlier Tuesday, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf swore in Gilani, a key aide of slain opposition icon Benazir Bhutto, as prime minister. Gilani will lead a coalition of Musharraf's opponents that won general elections last month. The United States, which viewed Musharraf as a crucial US ally against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, was following events closely as the election result raised questions about Washington's relations with Pakistan. US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher were visiting Pakistan to meet Musharraf as well as the new political leadership, including former premier Nawaz Sharif and Gilani. Sharif said he told Negroponte that the government would review Musharraf's cooperation with the United States, saying he wanted to curb militancy but that he did not want the country to become a "murder-house." His comments came amid US jitters over a New York Times report at the weekend that said that victorious political leaders intend to start negotiations with militants in the hope of ending recent violence. Asked about Sharif's stance, Perino struck an optimistic tone. "We feel comfortable that we'll be having a continued good relationship" with the Pakistani government, she said. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |