Zardari to meet Obama next week in Washington

US President Barack Obama will on Friday welcome Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to the White House for talks on ties between the uneasy war partners, spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

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WASHINGTON // US President Barack Obama will on Friday welcome Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to the White House for talks on ties between the uneasy war partners, spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Zardari was heading to Washington to take part in a memorial service for Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan who died last month at age 69.

The meeting comes just after Vice President Joe Biden paid a visit to Pakistan, which has been a key but complicated partner in the US-led campaign against Islamic extremism.

Obama, ahead of a visit to Pakistan's historic rival India last year, invited Zardari and promised to visit his country in 2011.