Pakistan’s President Zardari visits UK amid diplomatic row, worst floods in country’s history

more images

more images

Pakistan’s Zardari visits UK amid spat, floods

LONDON — Pakistan’s president arrives Tuesday in Britain for a five-day visit, amid a simmering diplomatic spat between the two countries and calls for him to cancel the trip to look after his flood-devastated nation.

President Asif Ali Zardari’s planned trip has been overshadowed by fury in Pakistan over Prime Minister David Cameron’s comments suggesting that the South Asian nation exports terrorism.

Zardari is set to meet Cameron for talks Friday, and the comments made by the British leader last week are likely to dominate the agenda. Pakistani officials were outraged when Cameron said Pakistan must not be allowed to “promote the export of terror whether to India, whether to Afghanistan or to anywhere else in the world.”

The comments were deemed especially offensive because Cameron made them while visiting India, Pakistan’s nuclear rival. Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan’s ambassador to Britain, called the comments “an immature reaction from an immature politician.”

Angry protesters in Karachi burned an effigy of Cameron. Pakistan’s powerful spy chief, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha, called off a trip to London this week, while Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi summoned the British High Commissioner to discuss the issue Monday.

Cameron’s office made it clear he did not intend to back down from his remarks, saying Monday that Britain has “very good, strong relations” with Pakistan and that Cameron “stands by” his comments and would not apologize.

Meanwhile, several British lawmakers of Pakistani origin said they have shunned invitations to meet Zardari in London, arguing that he should be in Pakistan as the worst floods in the country’s history killed up to 1,200 people and forced 2 million to flee their homes.

“The issue is the huge environmental catastrophe that’s going on — a lot of people are dying there,” lawmaker Khalid Mahmood told the Press Association. “No matter what he can do or can’t do, he should be there to try to support the people, not swanning around in the U.K. and France.”

Zardari was in Paris on Monday for talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy that covered fighting terrorism and nuclear cooperation.

Zardari’s government has been criticized at home for its handling of the flooding in the country’s northwest.

Residents accused the government of failing to provide enough emergency assistance nearly a week after extremely heavy monsoon rains triggered raging floodwaters in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province.