Peace and Justice Post

By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI – United States ambassador to Pakistan Anne W Patterson made a direct appearance on Pakistan’s political stage on Monday with a strong call for all political parties to participate in the national elections scheduled for January 8.

She personally met with several politicians, including Nawaz Sharif, and insisted that he take part in the polls. Former premier Sharif, recently returned from years in exile, has said that he,
along with some other parties, might boycott the vote.

This open intervention by a senior US diplomat follows prolonged backroom efforts by the George W Bush administration to dictate Pakistan’s strategic and domestic political issues, as well as matters related to foreign policy, such as Kashmir, to bring Islamabad in line with the US-led “war on terror” and its regional policy on Iran and Afghanistan for the remaining year or so of Bush’s term.

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