Holbrooke to Visit Pakistan, Focus Is Refugees.

[elleng]

U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said on Monday he will visit Pakistan this week to assess relief efforts to help the estimated 2 million people who have fled a Pakistani offensive against the Taliban and said more may become homeless if the conflict widens.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan a month ago launched a campaign against a growing Taliban insurgency in the picturesque Swat valley, a former tourist spot 80 miles northwest of Islamabad.

The offensive, which the United States has welcomed, has triggered a mass exodus that, if it turns into a protracted humanitarian crisis, could undermine Pakistani public support for the fight against the Islamist militants.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/06/01/us/politics/politics-us-pakistan-usa-holbrooke.html