Khalilzad in trouble over secret contacts with Zardari

“The conduct by Mr Khalilzad has also raised hackles because of speculation that he might seek to succeed Hamid Karzai as president of Afghanistan. Mr Khalilzad, who was the Bush administration’s first Ambassador to Afghanistan, has also kept in close contact with Afghan officials, angering William Wood, the current American Ambassador, said officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter of Khalilzad’s contacts.

Khalilzad has said he has no plans to seek the Afghan presidency.” through his spokesman, he said he had been friends with Zardari for years.

“Ambassador Khalilzad had planned to meet Zardari socially during his personal vacations,” Richard Grenell, the spokesman for the US Mission to the United Nations, was quoted as saying.

“But because Zardari is now a presidential candidate, Ambassador Khalilzad postponed the meeting, after consulting with senior State Department officials and Zardari himself.”

A senior American official said that Khalilzad had been advised to “stop speaking freely” to Zardari, and that it was not clear whether he would face any disciplinary action.

According to The Times, Administration officials described John Negroponte, the deputy secretary of state, and Boucher as angry over the conduct of Khalilzad because as UN Ambassador he has no direct responsibility for American relations with Pakistan.

Those dealings have been handled principally by Negroponte, Boucher and Anne Patterson, the American Ambassador to Pakistan.

“Why do I have to learn about this from Asif after it’s all set up?” Boucher wrote in the Aug 18 message, referring to the planned Dubai meeting with the PPP leader.

“We have maintained a public line that we are not involved in the politics or the details. We are merely keeping in touch with the parties. Can I say that honestly if you’re providing ‘advice and help’? Please advise and help me so that I understand what’s going on here.”

This is not the first time Khalilzad got into trouble for unauthorised contacts. In January, White House officials expressed anger about an unauthorised appearance in which Khalilzad sat beside the Iranian foreign minister at a panel of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.