US officials question Zardari’s long-term prospects: WSJ

CIA Director Leon Panaetta will meet the Pakistani President,

 PM as well as army and intelligence chiefs in 

an assessment mission ‘in guiding the Obama administration 

in fashioning a new Pakistan policy.’

NEW YORK Senior Obama administration officials have begun to question the ‘long term prospects of President Asif Ali Zardari, who was left significantly weakened in the aftermath of recent political upheaval in Pakistan,’ the Wall Street Journal says in an exclusive report Friday.The WSJ observed that the visit of the new CIA Director Leon Panaetta was an assessment mission ‘in guiding the Obama administration in fashioning a new Pakistan policy.’ The Obama administration made clear in the recent Pakistani standoff that it intends to take an aggressive role in stemming political turmoil. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Richard Holbrooke, Washington's special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, both called Mr. Zardari and warned him that international aid to Islamabad could be jeopardized if the conflict wasn't resolved peacefully, according to US officials. Mr. Gilani said this week he had invited Mr. Sharif, a former prime minister, to rejoin the ruling coalition, and Mr. Sharif is widely expected to make a bid for the premiership over the next year. Mr. Gilani is also seen to be in a strengthened position. But analysts aren't counting out Mr. Zardari, who still leads the country's largest political party. However, the newspaper said ‘the officials say they are nervous about what they see beyond Mr. Zardari. He has quietly supported US missile strikes against militants in Pakistan, and it isn't clear whether the new power centers in the country will be as cooperative.’