Saeed’s acquittal has disturbed us all : Holbrooke

August 20th, 2009 KARACHI - US Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, who is currently on a visit to Pakistan, has said his visit has nothing to do with the Indo-Pak problem, and that he is not in Pakistan to negotiate on the Kashmir issue. In an interview to a private television channel, Holbrooke said it was upto India and Pakistan to resolve the issue bilaterally.

August 18th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The US Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke has said that Washington is sure about the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud's death because the chieftain has not appeared over television or radio to prove his well-being. "The reason it's clear he's dead is that if he weren't dead, he'd be giving TV and radio interviews to prove he's not dead," Holbrooke told CNN.

August 16th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - US Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has said Washington's attempt to distance itself from former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would hamper US interests, as the PML-N chief is a famous leader of the country. "Nawaz Sharif is a popular leader and his party is ruling the largest province of Punjab.

August 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke on Thursday said the Obama administration is keeping New Delhi posted about its policies on Afghanistan and Pakistan. Speaking on the situation prevailing in Afghanistan and Pakistan at a meeting organised by the Centre for American Progress, Holbrooke described India as a dominant power of South Asia Holbrooke said improving Indo-US relations has been a continual goal of the last three US administrations and opined that all of them had been successful in that.

July 29th, 2009 BRUSSELS - US Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, has reiterated that the stability of Pakistan's lawless tribal areas along the Afghan border is very important in order to have some degree of control in Afghanistan. "In order to succeed in Afghanistan we have to have some degree of stability and control on the Pakistan side of the border," The News quoted Holbrooke, as saying.

July 24th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The United States would not allow the Taliban to sneak into Pakistan from Afghanistan and is working out a strategy for it, US Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke said before leaving Pakistan for Afghanistan after a two-day visit. Holbrooke said the US would not repeat its mistakes that it did in 2001 when hundreds of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters slipped into Pakistan's border region following the US led surge after 9/11.

July 22nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - US Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has said India, Pakistan and the United States face a common enemy, and that a joint effort is needed to crush the threat facing the region. Addressing a press conference here, Holbrooke said: "India, Pakistan and the US are surrounded by a common enemy.

July 22nd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke on Wednesday said that former President Pervez Musharraf is now history and that the US will not come to defend him. Talking to media here, Holbrooke termed Musharraf's case as Pakistan's internal issue, and added that the US respects Pakistan's judiciary and free press.

June 7th, 2009 LAHORE - President Barack Obama's Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, has said the United States will trace the financial sources of the Taliban. Holbrooke said the Taliban is getting more money from private donors than from their opium trade, estimated to be about 300 million dollars a year.

June 4th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira has said the arrest or release of an individual should not affect ties with India. Kaira was referring to the release of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed.

June 3rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has said that India's concerns on the acquittal of the Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD) chief Hafeez Saeed were 'misplaced', and that it should refrain from commenting on a decision of a court of law. "The views expressed therein are misplaced.

June 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The acquittal of Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD) chief Hafeez Saeed is seen as a 'very major setback' to the efforts being initiated to thaw the relationship between India and Pakistan. Experts believe that the heightened friction between the two neighboring countries was declining, as New Delhi had shown some moves to deescalate the tension.

May 14th, 2009 LAHORE - US Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has said there are certain benchmarks ready for Pakistan that would go together with the huge aid which the Obama administration is planning to provide. Responding to Senator Robert Menendez question over expanding funding for Pakistan's military, Holbrooke said : "We do have a comprehensive strategy and we do have benchmarks." Citing a US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, that stated that the Bush administration had not met its national security 'goals' to destroy terrorist havens in Pakistan, Menendez expressed concerns over misuse of billion of dollars in aid, The Daily Times reported.

May 6th, 2009 LAHORE - The United States Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke has termed the Swat peace deal as 'dead', the Daily Times reported. Addressing the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in Washington, Holbrooke said Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari had already informed the United States that the accord, signed between the NWFP government and the Taliban, would not stand for long.

April 18th, 2009 TOKYO - The US Special Envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has said that the international community should ensure giving more financial aid to Pakistan, as the terrorist groups based on its soil are on the verge of carrying out attacks around the world. Addressing delegates at the donors' conference here in which countries have pledged five billion dollars for Pakistan as aid, Holbrooke said the world must keep supporting the country.