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Pakistan surprise choice for US post
Source: Agencies |
November 24, 2011, Thursday
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PAKISTAN appointed a former information minister and human rights campaigner as its ambassador to the United States yesterday, moving quickly to fill a post left vacant following tensions between the civilian government and military.
Sherry Rehman replaced Husain Haqqani, who resigned on Tuesday, days after a Pakistani-American businessman accused him of being behind a memo that said the military was plotting a coup and appealed to the Pentagon to help ward it off.
Haqqani, who has denied any connection with the memo, wished Rehman well on his Twitter feed and called her a "dedicated democrat."
The controversy has thrown a spotlight on the fundamental tension in Pakistani politics since the nation was founded in 1947 - competition for power between civilian politicians and military commanders.
Rehman's appointment was seen as a compromise but came as a surprise to many analysts who had expected someone even closer to the military.
"We have many challenges (in Pakistan)," she said.
"We have given many sacrifices. These sacrifices should not go waste. This blood should not go to waste and we have a firm resolve. We will plead our case everywhere with one voice."
Pakistan is seen as critical to the US drive to end the conflict in Afghanistan but US-Pakistan relations plummeted after US special forces found and killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in May in a secret raid on a Pakistani garrison town.
Rehman is a veteran member of President Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and staunch proponent of civilian rule.
"She has been on the security panel of the parliament," said retired general turned analyst Talat Masood. "She understands security issues and at the same time she is on reasonably good terms with the military."
Rehman, a former journalist, was information minister for Zardari after the restoration of civilian rule following a 2008 election.
However, she resigned in March 2009 following disagreements with Zardari on imposing media restrictions.
She has been a strong advocate of women's and minority rights and faced death threats for her calls to reform the country's harsh blasphemy laws.
But Rehman is also the author, through her role as president of the Jinnah Institute, of a report on Pakistan's foreign policy goals in Afghanistan, staking out views widely seen in Pakistan as dovetailing with those of the military establishment.
Sherry Rehman replaced Husain Haqqani, who resigned on Tuesday, days after a Pakistani-American businessman accused him of being behind a memo that said the military was plotting a coup and appealed to the Pentagon to help ward it off.
Haqqani, who has denied any connection with the memo, wished Rehman well on his Twitter feed and called her a "dedicated democrat."
The controversy has thrown a spotlight on the fundamental tension in Pakistani politics since the nation was founded in 1947 - competition for power between civilian politicians and military commanders.
Rehman's appointment was seen as a compromise but came as a surprise to many analysts who had expected someone even closer to the military.
"We have many challenges (in Pakistan)," she said.
"We have given many sacrifices. These sacrifices should not go waste. This blood should not go to waste and we have a firm resolve. We will plead our case everywhere with one voice."
Pakistan is seen as critical to the US drive to end the conflict in Afghanistan but US-Pakistan relations plummeted after US special forces found and killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in May in a secret raid on a Pakistani garrison town.
Rehman is a veteran member of President Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and staunch proponent of civilian rule.
"She has been on the security panel of the parliament," said retired general turned analyst Talat Masood. "She understands security issues and at the same time she is on reasonably good terms with the military."
Rehman, a former journalist, was information minister for Zardari after the restoration of civilian rule following a 2008 election.
However, she resigned in March 2009 following disagreements with Zardari on imposing media restrictions.
She has been a strong advocate of women's and minority rights and faced death threats for her calls to reform the country's harsh blasphemy laws.
But Rehman is also the author, through her role as president of the Jinnah Institute, of a report on Pakistan's foreign policy goals in Afghanistan, staking out views widely seen in Pakistan as dovetailing with those of the military establishment.
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