By Agencies

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Pakistan has appointed a former information minister and human rights campaigner as its ambassador to the United States.

Sherry Rahman replaces Hussain Haqqani who resigned on Tuesday over claims that he drafted a memo on behalf of President Asif Ali Zardari, seeking Washington's help against his country's military.

Rahman is a veteran member of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and a staunch ally of Zardari.

She was a prominent journalist in Pakistan before she was made information minister by Zardari after the restoration of civilian rule following elections in 2008.

Rahman resigned in March 2009 over disagreements with Zardari on imposing media restrictions.

She has been a strong advocate of women's and minority rights and faced death threats for her calls to reform the
country's blasphemy laws.

The author of a report on Pakistan's foreign policy goals in Afghanistan, she has promulgated views widely seen as in agreement with the military.

Haqqani resigned after a Pakistani-American businessman accused him of being behind a memo that said the military was plotting a coup and appealing to the Pentagon to help ward it off.

Summoned to Islamabad earlier this week, he denied any connection with the memo and offered to resign after meeting the president and military chiefs.