Albright in Pakistan to seek support

ISLAMABAD, Nov 17: The United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright flew into Pakistan late Monday on a visit intended to underscore...

ISLAMABAD, Nov 17: The United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright flew into Pakistan late Monday on a visit intended to underscore Washington’s renewed engagement with southern Asia.

Albright had been due to arrive on Sunday but she was delayed by stopovers in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain to drum up support for possible US action against Iraq.

She also dropped her planned trip to Bangladesh, a senior US official said.

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Pakistani Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub Khan was at an Air force base to welcome Albright, the first Secretary of State to visit Pakistan since George Shultz who came here in 1983. Ahead of her arrival, US security officials used bomb detection equipment and a sniffer dog to comb the area, and checked press and television cameras.

Security fears multiplied after the murders of four US executives of the Houston-based Union Texas petroleum company in an ambush in Karachi on Wednesday. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents are investigating the killings with their Pakistani counterparts.

Albright will discuss the incident in the context of joint efforts to combat terrorism in the world, a US official said.

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