Zardari leaves for visit to Dubai, Britain

KARACHI: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari left here today for a four-day private visit to Dubai and Britain, where he is expected to discuss a new strategy to halt cross-border strikes in Afghanistan by the local Taliban.

Zardari, who was sworn in as President earlier this week, is set to meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown during his visit to Britain beginning September 16. Zardari is visiting Britain to get his daughters Bakhtawar and Asifa admitted to educational institutions there.

Brown told a news conference in London yesterday that he would discuss with Zardari a "new security strategy" to halt the movement of Taliban fighters across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

He said the "increasing insecurity in the border region is a problem for both Pakistan and Afghanistan".

The "porousness" of the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is a "problem for both countries", Brown added.

Zardari will return to Pakistan before September 20, when he is scheduled to address a joint sitting of parliament.