Zardari leaves for US, will meet Clinton

Rezaul H Laskar

Islamabad, Jan 13 (PTI) President Asif Ali Zardariwill meet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the sidelinesof a visit to the US though no meeting has been scheduled withhis American counterpart Barack Obama, Foreign Officespokesman Abdul Basit said today.

Zardari left for the US today to the memorialservice for Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke, who died lastmonth. Clinton will call on Zardari and some other meetingsare being arranged though no meeting has been scheduled withObama, Basit told a weekly news briefing.

Responding to a question on Pope Benedict''s call forthe repeal of Pakistan''s blasphemy law, Basit said PrimeMinister Yousuf Raza Gilani has already responded to thePope''s remarks "very clearly" by saying "there is no questionof abrogating" the law.

The Pope criticised the law after a Christian womanwas sentenced to death last year for allegedly insulting theProphet Mohammed.