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The Obama administration sends up a trial balloon
The former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, who resigned abruptly last year, is calling for Washington and Islamabad to break the "tyranny of negative narratives" and wage a stronger fight against terrorism and corruption in the strategic but unstable South Asian nation.
The U.S. ambassador to Pakistan created a political storm this week when he said that two leading opposition politicians would form a "pro-U.S. government" if either becomes prime minister in next year's elections.
Ryan Crocker, who came out of retirement less than a year ago to accept one of the most dangerous U.S. diplomatic assignments, plans to leave his post as ambassador in Afghanistan this summer.
One of the world's most-wanted terrorist leaders is suing two Pakistani journalists for reporting that he met with the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan.
Did he quit in anger? Was he forced out?
Tunisia accused the United States of interfering in the country's judicial system after U.S. Ambassador Gordon Gray criticized the guilty verdict in the blasphemy trial of a Tunisian television executive.
The new U.S. ambassador to South Korea tried to stay out of the country's bruising politics in his first public speech Tuesday but ended up being dragged into a bitter fight over U.S.-Korea trade.
The United States is vacating an air base in Pakistan used by American drones that target Taliban and al Qaeda militants, complying with a key demand made by Islamabad in retaliation for the NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, the U.S. ambassador said Monday.
The U.S. ambassador to Islamabad phoned Washington with an urgent plea: Stop an imminent CIA drone strike against militants on the Pakistani side of the Afghan border.
American ambassadors celebrated Independence Day from the tranquility of the Bahamas to the front line in the war on terrorism in Afghanistan, where U.S. soldiers are sacrificing their lives for a government that calls them "occupiers."
The Mexican ambassador compared rival Mexican drug gangs responsible for 35,000 deaths to businessmen pursing "hostile takeovers," as he complained about U.S. attempts to label murderous cartels as terrorists.
Men beat their bare chests, women wailed and church leaders warned Pakistan was sinking under the weight of extremism on Friday as they buried a Christian politician assassinated for opposing harsh blasphemy laws.
The United States may scrap upcoming talks with Pakistan about the war in Afghanistan to further pressure Islamabad to free an American who shot dead two Pakistanis, U.S. officials said.
The Pakistani press denounced U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter for "meddling" in the country's domestic affairs, but a media watchdog noted that the reports deliberately distorted his recent remarks about the need for Washington to monitor aid to a country widely noted for official corruption.
The new U.S. ambassador to Pakistan is strongly defending American drone attacks on terrorist targets inside the South Asian nation, despite public discontent over the unmanned aerial attacks.
"There is plenty of blame to go around," Mr. Munter said, "but it is crucial that the Pakistani leadership step up and admit its failings rather than simply accuse the Americans of inefficiency or bad faith."
Cameron Munter, a career diplomat, says the two countries must continue "reasonable, clear-eyed cooperation" on counterterrorism and "encourage" broad-based reform of Pakistani institutions to promote "truly democratic Pakistani leadership."
