Saturday, June 30, 2007

Old and new anchors for General Musharraf

from the Daily Times

President Musharraf seems to be “diversifying” his reliance on the US — worth billions in handouts for military incursions into Waziristan alone — by reviving old links in the Gulf. He has been indulging in shuttle diplomacy on behalf of Saudi Arabia, and his prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, has been issuing statements of “cooperation” with the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) ... Even as the news from America is becoming negative, the UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan was in Islamabad recently, calling Musharraf’s Pakistan “an anchor of peace in the region” and promising more investment because of Pakistan’s “unique geo-strategic location”. Before him, Pakistan was host to the Imam of Kaaba from Saudi Arabia who stayed in Pakistan for a significantly long period because of the crowds he drew to his “buttressing” pro-government speeches.

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