President starts 4-nation tour

[Naveed Yaseen]

LAHORE: President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday left for a 15-day foreign tour that will take him to four countries, a private TV channel reported on Wednesday.

The president will return on October 1. The channel said Zardari was scheduled to reach the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday from where he would head to the United Kingdom today (Thursday). During his three-day stay in the UK, he would meet several British leaders and is also expected to meet Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain.

Zardari is scheduled to reach New York on September 20, where he would co-chair the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP) summit on September 24 along with US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

President Zardari would also meet President Obama during his stay in New York and also hold talks with the Turkish prime minister on the sidelines of the FoDP meeting, the channel added.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2009_pg7_8