Born on July 1, 1956, Husain Haqqani was appointed Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in April 2008.
He resigned on November 22, 2011. Haqqani is widely critiqued in the media and by opposition politicians as representing Zardari’s interest over those of the nation. He is colloquially referred to as “American Ambassador to America from Pakistan” in reference to his alleged appeasement of American policy.
Previously, he has held numerous high-ranking positions in and out of the government, including as adviser to three former prime ministers and as envoy to Sri Lanka. He has been a prominent journalist, scholar and educator. His appointment in 2008 marked a return to government service after being exiled in 1999 following criticisms against the government of then chief executive General Pervez Musharraf.
Haqqani was born in Karachi and was raised in a conservative but educated family in Malir, which is a relatively poor suburb of Karachi.
He began his interest in journalism while in high school. In year 1972, Haqqani became president of the student union of Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami) at Government National Science College.
In 1973, he joined Karachi University and frequently visited the library at the US consulate, reading volumes of American history. Later, when students wanted to attack the consulate as part of a protest against the United States, Haqqani refused to do so. Haqqani has an excellent academic record with distinctions at all stages. He received a BA degree with distinction in 1977 and an MA degree with distinction in international relations in 1980 from the University of Karachi.
In March 2000, he married Farahnaz Ispahani, a former producer at CNN and MSNBC and current member of parliament, and the granddaughter of Mirza Abol Hassan Ispahani, Pakistan’s first ambassador to Washington.
Their official residence in Washington was purchased and donated by her grandfather.
He has lived in the US since 2002, and has developed a taste for the Boston Red Sox baseball team and news programmes.
At the time of his appointment as ambassador on April 3, 2008, Haqqani was viewed as a respected figure on the world stage, coming to the post well versed in the ways of diplomacy and Washington. He succeeded Mahmud Ali Durrani, who became national security adviser to the Gilani government.
Prior to his appointment, Haqqani had been critical of the Musharraf regime and past US support to Pakistan’s military. In 1988, he worked in the political campaign for IJI – an alliance led by PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif. In 1990, he was special assistant to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif; from 1990-92, he was special assistant and spokesman for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif; from 1992-93, he became one of Pakistan’s youngest ambassadors, serving in Sri Lanka.
However, later from 1993-95, he switched sides and joined Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto as her spokesman. From 1995-96, he was chairman of the House Building Finance Corporation.
From 2004-08, Haqqani was an associate professor for international relations at Boston University. In addition, he co-chaired the Project on Islam and Democracy at the Hudson Institute in Washington, and was editor of the journal Current Trends in Islamists Ideology.
Among his numerous writing credits are “Pakistan Between Mosque and Military” for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; “Islam’s Medieval Outposts” for the journal Foreign Policy, and “The Role of Islam in Pakistan’s Future” for Washington Quarterly.