Haqqani Back in D.C., Where Everybody Knows His Name.

Most ambassadors gain real influence only after years of working Washington's corridors of power — and often only with the help of expensive lobbying firms. But Husain Haqqani, the ambassador-designate from Pakistan, already knows almost everyone who counts.

"He's one of the guys," said Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, who has known Haqqani for more than five years. "I'll always take a call from him." He was one of a half-dozen senior members of Congress who saw Haqqani on short notice during a recent two-day trip to Washington. [...]

"The new coalition has to show it has an effective approach to the domestic insurgency that is different from Musharraf and not made in Washington. It is inclined to deal with the problem politically, not militarily," said Schaffer, now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The new government of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani favors negotiating with Pakistan's militant groups, "and that has given Washington a bad case of the jitters," Schaffer said.

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