Iran congratulates Zardari on victory
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:09:18 GMT

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has congratulated the Pakistani President-elect Asif Ali Zardari on his triumph in the presidential poll.

"I would like to extend my sincerest congratulations for your deserving election as president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to you, your government and nation," Ahmadinejad said in a statement released on Saturday.

The statement also voiced the Islamic Republic of Iran's complete readiness to expand cooperation with Pakistan in all fields.

Ahmadinejad said he was optimistic that under Zaradri's presidency, Tehran-Islamabad relations would further expand.

On Saturday, Zardari, the widower of slain former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, defeated retired chief justice Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui, who was backed by former premier Nawaz Sharif, and Mushahid Hussain, a close aide of Musharraf.

He secured more than two-thirds of the votes from the country's two houses of parliament and four provincial assemblies that constitute the electoral college.

Pakistan's presidential elections were called after Pervez Musharraf resigned on August 18.


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