Zardari under fire over visit to UK

MORE than 100 protesters gathered outside a convention centre in Birmingham yesterday where Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari was due to speak at a rally.

They urged him to return to his country, which has been devastated by flooding. The humanitarian disaster has affected 13 million Pakistanis and killed at least 1,600.

Many chanted: "Go Zardari, go!" One banner read "Zardari, part-time president!" and another "Thousands dying; president holidaying!"

Zardari was addressing the UK's Pakistani community after talks with Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday in which they agreed to do more together to fight Islamist militancy and brushed aside a diplomatic spat. Cameron had angered Pakistanis with comments that Pakistan must not "look both ways" when dealing with militants during a recent visit to India.

Zardari's son defended his father's visit to the UK as he launched a formal appeal for aid at the Pakistan High Commission in London yesterday.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also angrily denied that the president was using the floods for his own political gain. Calling for donations, he said: "This is not the time to play politics." When asked whether he was using his father's trip to launch his political career, the Oxford graduate shouted: "No, no. That is all lies."

The 21-year-old said his father's visit to Europe had helped raise millions for the relief cause. Amid criticism of the president for visiting the UK, the son added: "My father is doing the best he can for the people of Pakistan."

Bhutto Zardari is widely seen as the heir to the Bhutto family dynasty founded by his grandfather, former president and prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was hanged in 1979.