Biden arrives in Pakistan

Agence France-Presse

Biden's office said he would tour "southwest Asia" without giving details, citing security concerns, but he himself said earlier this week that he would be visiting Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq, the politico.com Web site reported. "What I hope to accomplish is to get sort of a baseline. This will be my God knows how many trips, I guess my 10th or 11th trip into Iraq and I don't know how many times in Afghanistan and Pakistan," he was quoted as saying.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor said Biden - who was in Kuwait on Thursday - and Graham met with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and the powerful army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani. The military declined to comment.

Although vice president-elect’s office has stressed that he has come to the region in his capacity as a senator, the trip is seen as carrying more weight, given Obama's plans to shift the focus in the "war on terror" to South Asia.