UK, Pakistan leaders try to repair strained relations

Tue Aug 3, 2010 6:05pm EDT

* Zardari's comment on Afghan war risk aggravating quarrel

* Cameron defends his comments about Pakistan

* Zardari faces criticism for going overseas during floods



By Adrian Croft

LONDON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - The leaders of Pakistan and Britain will try to repair strained relations this week after openly disagreeing over Pakistan's commitment to fighting Islamist militants and the direction of the war in Afghanistan.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari arrived in Britain on Tuesday evening for a five-day visit despite pressure from some Pakistani politicians to cancel the visit in protest at Prime Minister David Cameron's comment last week that Islamabad must not "promote the export of terror".

The comment, made during Cameron's visit to India, infuriated many Pakistanis and brought a stinging rebuke from Pakistani authorities who said the country was paying a heavy human toll in the fight against militants.

Zardari has been criticised in both Pakistan and Britain for going ahead with the visit when floods in Pakistan have killed more than 1,400 people and wrecked the lives of millions.

Zardari risked widening the rift with Cameron on Tuesday by rebuking him for questioning Islamabad's resolve and by saying the international community was losing the war against the Afghan Taliban.

"And that is, above all, because we have lost the battle for hearts and minds," he told French newspaper Le Monde.

Cameron contradicted Zardari, telling a BBC interviewer: "I don't accept that we are losing the battle of hearts and minds."

Farzana Shaikh, an expert on Pakistan at the Chatham House thinktank, said Zardari was trying to convey a widely held view in Pakistan that "Pakistan is being singled out as a scapegoat for a war that is going horribly wrong in Afghanistan."



UK NEEDS PAKISTAN'S HELP

Cameron, who took power less than three months ago at the helm of a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, has changed British policy on Afghanistan, saying he wants 9,500 British combat troops home from Afghanistan within five years.

British officials know Pakistan's help is crucial to Western efforts to stabilise neighbouring Afghanistan, where the Taliban insurgency is at its strongest since the hardline Islamists were overthrown in 2001, despite a sharp increase in U.S.-led forces.

Classified U.S. military reports published on the WikiLeaks website last month detailed concerns that Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) agency had aided the Taliban.

Cameron told the BBC on Tuesday that Pakistan was an important ally but stood by his earlier comments.

"There has been and there still is a problem of terror groups in Pakistan that threaten other countries, also threaten our troops in Afghanistan and that threaten us here in the UK and they need to be dealt with," he said.

Zardari expressed hope to Le Monde that his meeting with Cameron would help dispel a "serious crisis". "I will explain to him that it is my country which is paying the highest price for this war in terms of human lives," he said.

Cameron has arranged a private dinner with Zardari at his country residence at Chequers on Thursday evening, in addition to previously scheduled talks on Friday, his office said. The move hinted at a desire to patch up the quarrel.

Britain is a major aid donor to Pakistan, providing almost 130 million pounds ($206 million) in the 2008/09 fiscal year. It announced 10 million pounds for flood relief this week.

Zardari is also set to hold talks with several British ministers and to meet British legislators of Pakistani descent.

British news reports said a key element of Zardari's trip was a rally for supporters of his Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in Birmingham on Saturday to promote the political career of his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, an Oxford University graduate.

Zardari, the widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and his son are co-chairmen of the ruling PPP. (Additional reporting by Kylie MacLellan; editing by Myra MacDonald)



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