Zardari calls Clinton, gets support for the $15 bln package

NEW YORK: President Asif Ali Zardari Friday called Senator Hillary Clinton on telephone who has emerged as a choice of President-elect Barack Obama for the US Secretary of State.

The President, now in New York to attend the dialogue on interfaith harmony, said Pakistan was striving for peace in the region and its nascent democracy needed support and cooperation of the international community to confront several challenges it was facing.

Hillary Clinton, a senator from New York, extended full support to President Zardari for $15 billion assistance under the Biden-Lugar bill for the next ten years as a long-term engagement with Pakistan.

Hillary Clinton said the United States of America was keen to see the economic and social uplift of the people of Pakistan and the new US administration and the Congress would work together to attain that objective.

The US media reported Clinton was the top contender for the slot of U.S. Secretary of state, following her meeting with President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday to discuss her role in the new administration.