PAKISTAN:Asif Ali Zardari was sworn in as president of Pakistan yesterday and vowed to work with neighbours, particularly Afghanistan, after a period of strained relations between the two US allies over Taliban violence.
Mr Zardari, widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, swept an election by legislators on Saturday for a replacement for former army chief Pervez Musharraf, who resigned last month under threat of impeachment.
Investors and Pakistan's allies, led by the US, hope the election will bring some stability after months of political turmoil and rising militant violence.
US president George W Bush said in a speech to the US National Defense University that he had telephoned Mr Zardari, who is seen as close to the US. Mr Bush said militants were stepping up attacks into Afghanistan from sanctuaries in northwestern Pakistan.
Mr Zardari's three children and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan attended the swearing-in in Islamabad. Mr Zardari later told a news conference with Mr Karzai that the government was following a comprehensive plan on militancy. Both stressed their intention to work together.
"We shall stand with our neighbours . . . and look the problems in the eye and tell the world that we are bigger than the problems," Mr Zardari said, with a portrait of his wife on a wall behind him.
The US and Afghanistan say al-Qaeda and Taliban militants operate from sanctuaries in northwest Pakistani border areas, from where they orchestrate war in Afghanistan and Pakistan and plot violence in the West.
However, Pakistan has played down the importance of the sanctuaries, saying that the Afghan war is an Afghan problem.
Mr Karzai reiterated his call for militants to be pursued in their sanctuaries, whether in Pakistan or Afghanistan, and for international forces to avoid civilian casualties after a spate of such incidents in which scores of Afghans have been killed.
"The war against terrorism will only be won if we have the people with us. In order to have the people with us we must avoid civilian casualties," he said.
Mr Zardari is taking office as many Pakistanis are furious with the US after a bloody incursion by US ground troops into a remote village on the Afghan border last week and a string of missile strikes by CIA-operated drone aircraft.
Mr Zardari told the news conference the government had protested to the US, adding: "Casualties of war are taking place. We cannot deny that innocents are dying."
Investors are hoping Mr Zardari's election win will end political uncertainty that has dragged stocks and the rupee sharply lower. But markets were flat on Tuesday. The Karachi Stock Exchange benchmark share index ended marginally lower, with analysts saying investors wanted to see action to bolster the economy.
The index rose for six consecutive years from 2002 and was one of the top performers in Asia in that period, but it has plunged 41 per cent from a lifetime high in April. The rupee hit a record low of 77.45 to the US dollar on September 3rd and has lost about 20 per cent this year.
Mr Zardari said the government would not seek an International Monetary Fund programme, but would take IMF advice.
"They will follow measures because we need to tighten our belt," he said .- (Reuters)