Asif Ali Zardari is the president of Pakistan, a position he attained
in 2008 after the assassination of his wife, Benazir Bhutto, the leader
of the Pakistan Peoples Party, which had been founded by her father.
Mr. Zardari’s ascension to his country’s top civilian office was yet another unlikely twist in a career that began with his unlikely marriage to Ms. Bhutto and that had included an eight-year stint in prison on corruption charges. (While his wife called him the “Mandela of Pakistan,” Mr. Zardari earned another nickname when she was prime minister: “Mr. 10 Percent,” for his reputation of demanding kickbacks on government contracts.)
In his first years as president, Mr. Zardari had only limited control over Pakistan’s government, as the nation’s military steadily reasserted the primacy it has repeatedly claimed through coups. Mr. Zardari’s standing also suffered from the country’s sinking economy, political missteps and, perhaps most of all, from a widespread perception that he is a supporter of the United States.
But in March 2012, Mr. Zardari’s government cemented its grip on power with strong gains in Senate elections that should ensure his party’s influence until 2015.
At Loggerheads With Obama at NATO Summit
In May, a NATO summit meeting to discuss long-term security for Afghanistan was held in Chicago, in the shadow of continuing tension between the United States and Pakistan over an unfinished deal to reopen supply routes for the war.
The supply lines, through which about 40 percent of NATO’s nonlethal supplies had passed, were closed in late November after 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed in American airstrikes along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Before the meeting, American and Pakistani officials had expressed optimism that an agreement was imminent. Negotiators were narrowing their differences after three weeks of deliberations, and it was hoped that an invitation for Pakistan to attend the summit would engender the goodwill needed to close the gap between the two sides.
Mr. Zardari flew to Chicago. But a deal on the supply lines remained elusive, and President Obama would not meet directly with him without it, American officials said. Mr. Zardari did meet with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
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Mr. Zardari’s ascension to his country’s top civilian office was yet another unlikely twist in a career that began with his unlikely marriage to Ms. Bhutto and that had included an eight-year stint in prison on corruption charges. (While his wife called him the “Mandela of Pakistan,” Mr. Zardari earned another nickname when she was prime minister: “Mr. 10 Percent,” for his reputation of demanding kickbacks on government contracts.)
In his first years as president, Mr. Zardari had only limited control over Pakistan’s government, as the nation’s military steadily reasserted the primacy it has repeatedly claimed through coups. Mr. Zardari’s standing also suffered from the country’s sinking economy, political missteps and, perhaps most of all, from a widespread perception that he is a supporter of the United States.
But in March 2012, Mr. Zardari’s government cemented its grip on power with strong gains in Senate elections that should ensure his party’s influence until 2015.
At Loggerheads With Obama at NATO Summit
In May, a NATO summit meeting to discuss long-term security for Afghanistan was held in Chicago, in the shadow of continuing tension between the United States and Pakistan over an unfinished deal to reopen supply routes for the war.
The supply lines, through which about 40 percent of NATO’s nonlethal supplies had passed, were closed in late November after 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed in American airstrikes along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Before the meeting, American and Pakistani officials had expressed optimism that an agreement was imminent. Negotiators were narrowing their differences after three weeks of deliberations, and it was hoped that an invitation for Pakistan to attend the summit would engender the goodwill needed to close the gap between the two sides.
Mr. Zardari flew to Chicago. But a deal on the supply lines remained elusive, and President Obama would not meet directly with him without it, American officials said. Mr. Zardari did meet with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Read More...
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