Zardari likely to visit Washington for Holbrooke's Jan 12 memorial service

Washington, Jan 1(ANI): Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari is likely to make a two-day visit to Washington in January to pay his last respects to Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, who died on December 13, according to official sources.

A formal announcement about President Zardari's visit is expected on Monday, The Nation reports.

The memorial service for Holbrooke, who was US President Barack Obama's Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, is scheduled for January 12 in Washington, where he will be buried.

Holbrooke, 69, died at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, where doctors performed surgery to repair a tear in his aorta.

Right up until the very end, Holbrooke was weighing in on world affairs.

"You've got to stop this war in Afghanistan," the veteran diplomat told a Pakistani doctor before being sedated for emergency heart surgery.

President Zardari has called Holbrooke a friend of Pakistan. (ANI)