Karzai making unauthorized contacts, shaping Pakistan's politics.

Now THIS is interesting (and it sounds BIG.)

Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador to the United Nations, is facing angry questions from other senior Bush administration officials over what they describe as unauthorized contacts with Asif Ali Zardari, a contender to succeed Pervez Musharraf as president of Pakistan.

Mr. Khalilzad had spoken by telephone with Mr. Zardari, the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, several times a week for the past month until he was confronted about the unauthorized contacts, a senior United States official said. Other officials said Mr. Khalilzad had planned to meet with Mr. Zardari privately next Tuesday while on vacation in Dubai, in a session that was canceled only after Richard A. Boucher, the assistant secretary of state for South Asia, learned from Mr. Zardari himself that the ambassador was providing “advice and help.”

Include in this the persistent rumors that Khalilzad is angling to replace Karzai as the Afghani President.

And, check out this euphemism, and tell me it doesn't sound like he was passing unauthorized information and "advice."

A senior American official said that Mr. Khalilzad had been advised to “stop speaking freely” to Mr. Zardari....

Or maybe these reaction statements,

The Pakistani official said the consultations between the men were an open exchange of information, with each one giving insight into the political landscape in his capital.....

Sean I. McCormack, the State Department spokesman, said, “Our very clear policy is that the Pakistanis have to work out any domestic political questions for themselves.” Gordon D. Johndroe, a White House spokesman, said, “The Pakistani elections are an internal matter for the Pakistani people.”

Reading through the diplomat speak, doesn't that sound like he was doing more than shooting the breeze?

An independent, possibly self-interested effort by Khalilzad to affect the outcome of governments in the region.

This is big.