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New president faces a tough balancing act in curbing terrorism
By Kim Barker
Chicago Tribune
Published on Sunday, Sep 07, 2008
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN: Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was elected president of Pakistan on Saturday and now must lead his troubled country out of the deepest crisis it has faced in years.
Zardari, 53, once plagued by corruption charges, overwhelmingly won the election in the country's parliament and provincial assemblies. He will succeed Pervez Musharraf, who resigned almost three weeks ago after Zardari pressed supporters and allies to impeach him.
Musharraf, the former army chief who seized power in a 1999 coup, was a key U.S. ally in the fight against militants.
Zardari and his Pakistan People's Party have been eager to show that their coalition government elected in February is a better choice to fight terrorism. In a statement, Zardari said the party had fulfilled Bhutto's dream by retrieving the presidency from a dictator.
''It is the end of dictatorship,'' said Rehman Malik, the Interior Ministry chief, after Zardari won. ''There is no army, there is civilian rule.''
Zardari will become the most powerful civilian president in his country's 61 years, dominated by military rulers. He inherits a nuclear-armed country considered crucial to the world's security but that in recent months has been hit by crisis after crisis, from food inflation to a currency that fell to its lowest level ever against the dollar.
His government will face tremendous pressure from both the United States and the Pakistani people in the war on terror.
The United States wants Pakistan to do more against insurgents; many Pakistanis believe the war is only fueling militancy. Zardari is considered pro-West, but it is not clear how much control his government will be able to exert over the military, the strongest institution in Pakistan.
The government faces a tough balancing act, illustrated by the cross-border ground attack by U.S. forces Wednesday that Pakistani officials say killed 15 civilians in the tribal areas. The attack was roundly condemned across Pakistan; in reaction, on Saturday, the government suspended all supplies through a key border checkpoint to NATO-led troops in Afghanistan, the defense minister announced.
NATO officials said this would have no effect on operations. It was not clear whether this was a temporary suspension designed to win more votes for Zardari from tribal politicians.
Underscoring Pakistan's challenges, the Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing Saturday near Peshawar that killed at least 17 people.
Despite his overwhelming victory, Zardari is a divisive figure in Pakistan, largely because of allegations that he was corrupt during his wife's two terms as prime minister. He spent almost 11 years in jail but was never convicted of a crime and recently cleared of all charges.
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN: Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was elected president of Pakistan on Saturday and now must lead his troubled country out of the deepest crisis it has faced in years.
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