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Cassidy withdraws Pakistan lobbying contract |
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By Kevin Bogardus
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Posted: 11/08/07 08:23 PM [ET] |
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A top Washington lobbying firm has withdrawn its contract with Pakistan’s Washington embassy due to the country’s state of emergency declared last weekend.
In early October, Cassidy & Associates signed a $1.2 million contract with the country’s D.C. embassy. But in a statement released to The Hill Wednesday, the firm contends that recent events have led them to cancel the agreement, which was to last for a year.
“Recent developments in Pakistan have made it difficult to effectively fulfill our mission on behalf of the Embassy of Pakistan,” said Tom Alexander, director of corporate communications for the firm. “These dramatic changes have forced us to most respectfully withdraw our representation of the embassy effective today.”
President Pervez Musharraf has come under international criticism for declaring emergency rule. Opponents of Musharraf’s government, such as liberal activists and lawyers, have been arrested, while local media has been censored.
On Capitol Hill and on the presidential campaign trail, lawmakers have renewed calls to either reduce or cut U.S. foreign aid altogether to Pakistan. U.S. administration officials still hope for elections in the country this January.
Robin Raphel, senior vice president at Cassidy and a former assistant secretary of state for South Asian Affairs, was to head up the contract as part of the firm’s new global affairs and trade consultancy group.
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