British PM felicitates Gilani on unanimous Vote
By Raza Mumtaz 'Pakistan Times' Executive Editor/UK Bureau Chief

LONDON (UK): British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday telephoned Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and felicitated him on securing the unanimous vote of confidence from the National Assembly.

Prime Minister Brown also assured Prime Minister Gilani of the United Kingdom’s support for the promotion of democracy in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer has also felicitated Prime Minister Gilani on assuming the office of the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

In a message, he said, the NATO countries would extend all out support to the new democratic government in Pakistan.

Rice on Ties

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said the United States will work with the new Pakistani government on the entire gamut of bilateral relations and voiced her confidence in striving together to address the problem of violent extremism.

Dr Rice, who is traveling in the Middle East, told accompanying reporters that the US stood for fair and free elections in Pakistan and is pleased that the country has returned to civilian rule.

Asked to comment on the new Pakistani government’s policy statement in which it vowed its commitment to curb terrorism and indicated the possibility of talks with those who renounce violence and give up arms, Dr Rice replied.

“As is appropriate, we will now begin working with that government on the whole host of issues that are there in the U.S.-Pakistani relationship. That includes, by the way, both issues concerning terrorism, which threatens Pakistanis—we’ve seen it threaten Pakistanis, we’ve seen it result in the assassination of Mrs. Bhutto. They’ve got a problem, we’ve got a problem, and we can work together on it. “It also, by the way, is economic assistance and education assistance and all the other things. So we have the same goal here and we’re going to work with them concerning it”.

The White House last week also said the US would work hand-in-hand with the new government, headed by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, on the best way to deal with the problem of violent extremism.●