US says Pakistan harassing its diplomats

[Abu Zolfiqar]

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Thursday, 07 January 2010
Muharram 20, 1431

QUETTA: Police in Gwadar took into custody three employees of the US Consulate in Karachi and impounded their vehicle on Wednesday.

The number plate of the US Consulate vehicle was found to be fake, a senior police officer of Gwadar police said, while confirming the arrest of the three employees.

According to sources, police intercepted a vehicle with a diplomatic number plate at the Gwadar bypass, acting on information that a suspicious vehicle had entered the area. Police brought the vehicle and the three employees to Gwadar police station.

The three, Ghulam Jilani, assistant security officer, Muzafar and the driver, were released late on Wednesday.

The sources said the three had arrived in Turbat a day before and, after spending the night there, they left for Gwadar. The consulate employees refused to say anything about the purpose of their visit to Turbat and Gwadar.

“Yes, police took into custody three US Consulate employees who had come to Gwadar and Turbat without permission from competent authorities,” a senior officer told Dawn, adding that an investigation was under way to ascertain the purpose of their visit to the area.


Sources said that the employees had been released on the orders of some senior officials. However, police refused to hand over the vehicle because its documents had not been produced.

“We released the US Consulate employees,” Jumma Khan, SHO of Gwadar police station, said. But the vehicle was in police custody because its number plate was found to be fake.

DAWN.COM | Front Page | Three consulate employees held in Gwadar, released

[Gin ka Pakistan]

US says Pakistan harassing its diplomats

By NAHAL TOOSI, Associated Press Writer Nahal Toosi, Associated Press Writer

ISLAMABAD – The U.S. Embassy complained Thursday that its staff members are being harassed and detained as they travel around Pakistan, a rare public protest that illustrated the tensions between the allies as America expands its presence here.

The press statement issued Thursday reflects the rising frustration American officials feel over alleged Pakistani efforts to stymie Washington's move to add hundreds more staff and more space to its embassy in Islamabad. It came as a contingent of U.S. lawmakers, including senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman, arrived for a visit.

U.S. officials say they need more room and people to help disburse a $7.5 billion humanitarian aid package to Pakistan, whose cooperation Washington needs to fight al-Qaida-allied militants along the Pakistan-Afghan border.

But suspicion of U.S. motives abounds among Pakistanis: Many believe the U.S. is simply flooding the country with more spies whose ultimate aim is destabilizing Pakistan and taking over its nuclear program.

In recent weeks, American diplomats have faced lengthy delays in receiving approvals for visas and visa extensions. Some also have been stopped at checkpoints by police who have in a couple of cases temporarily confiscated their vehicles. Some of the incidents have been publicized in the Pakistani press.

On Wednesday, two Pakistani employees of a U.S. consulate and their police escort were detained while traveling in Baluchistan province in the country's southwest to prepare for a visit involving a development project, an embassy statement said. It called upon Pakistani officials "to cease these contrived incidents involving U.S. mission vehicles and personnel."

The statement also quoted U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson as pushing Pakistan to implement an agreement to identify diplomatic vehicles in a safe manner.

The agreement lets those vehicles carry normal Pakistani license plates on the outside — so as not to be identified as U.S. vehicles and easily targeted by militants — while carrying special diplomatic plates inside to show police, embassy spokesman Rick Snelsire said.

"There was an agreement on that," Snelsire said. "We're waiting for the agreement to be implemented."

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry's spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.

Snelsire said U.S. Embassy employees were still experiencing delays in visa approvals, despite appeals to Pakistani authorities.

"They don't tend to reject visas; they just don't issue them," Snelsire said. "We're still working on refining the process."

Foreigners coming to work in Pakistan are often subject to background checks by multiple ministries and agencies, including Pakistan's powerful intelligence apparatus.

The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad has plans to go from about 500 American employees to more than 800 over the next 18 months, largely to accommodate the aid package, which provides $1.5 billion annually over five years for economic and social programs.

The package is designed to strengthen Pakistan's civilian government and comes as a string of violent militant attacks have rocked the country — apparent retaliation for its anti-Taliban army offensives.

The package's requirements for accounting and oversight have rankled Pakistanis including top brass in the army, an institution that has ruled the country for about half its 62-year existence.

The visiting U.S. congressional delegation met with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari Thursday after a trip to Afghanistan.

While in Kabul, both McCain and Lieberman said U.S. missile strikes in Pakistan were critical to defeating terrorists in the region.

The attacks by the unmanned drones are a controversial element of U.S. strategy that have fed anti-Americanism in Pakistan. Publicly, the Pakistani government condemns them as violations of sovereignty, but analysts suspect it secretly aids the attacks.

Zardari told the visiting lawmakers that Pakistan should be given the drone technology itself, and urged that "U.S. actions should remain on the Afghan side of the border," according to a statement from the president's office.

He also pushed the U.S. to speed up its delivery of financial aid and to channel it through the Pakistani government, something some observers fear could feed graft.

US says Pakistan harassing its diplomats - Yahoo! News

[Gin ka Pakistan]

East Indian company is back , history repeating its self.

[pak-yes]

And we are equally unprepared now as we were in those days.

[Bhushan]

Pak harassing our diplomats: US

ISLAMABAD: The US embassy in Pakistan complained that its diplomats are being harassed and detained as they travel in the country, illustrating heightened tensions between the allies as US expands its presence here.

The rare public protest reflects the rising frustration among US officials over alleged Pakistani efforts to stymie Washington’s moves to add hundreds more staff and more space to its embassy in Islamabad.

US officials say they need more room and people to help disburse a $7.5 billion humanitarian aid package to Pakistan, whose cooperation Washington needs to fight al-Qaida-allied militants along the Pakistan-Afghan border.

In recent weeks, American diplomats have faced lengthy delays in receiving approvals for visas and visa extensions. Some also have been stopped at checkpoints by police who have in a couple of cases temporarily confiscated their cars.

On Wednesday, two Pakistani employees of a US consulate and their police escort were detained while traveling in Baluchistan to prepare for a visit involving a development project, an embassy statement said. It called upon Pakistani officials "to cease these contrived incidents involving US mission vehicles and personnel."

The statement also quoted US ambassador Anne Patterson as pushing Pakistan to implement an agreement to identify diplomatic vehicles in a safe manner.

[Bhushan]

U.S. Diplomats, Military Harassed in Pakistan: Signs of Weakening Fight Against Terrorism

This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," December 17, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Disturbing news tonight out of Pakistan. According to The New York Times, American officials in Pakistan say they're being harassed by parts of the Pakistani military and intelligence services. The harassment includes the refusal to extend or approve visas for more than 100,000 American officials and frequent searches of American diplomatic vehicles in major cities.

Why is this going on? We send Pakistan huge amounts of aid, and we need them to fight al Qaeda and the Taliban. So what do we do now? Joining us live is former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton.

Good evening, Ambassador. Welcome back. And before we even get to this issue, the news in the last 24 hours about the Pakistani supreme court essentially saying that the grant of immunity or amnesty to the president - - the current president of Pakistan and others was unconstitutional -- is it likely that the president, President Zardari, will be tried for corruption? And how will that destabilize an already unstable government?

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: Well, his immunity holds as long as he's in office. It's when people become former office holders or who are on this list, including, for example, the defense minister of Pakistan, who are subject to being tried right now.

I actually think the two events, the supreme court decision stripping immunity and this evidence of anti-Americanism in parts of the Pakistani military, are tied together. And I think what they both signify is a continuing weakening of Zardari's position, which is bad news for us and bad news for the continuing fight against terrorism.

VAN SUSTEREN: You mentioned the defense minister. Defense Minister Muqtar claims that local television in Pakistan that he was on his way to China, actually at the airport in Islamabad to go to China, and that he was not allowed to board a Pakistani air flight to go to China because of this decision.

They won't even allow him to leave the country. That doesn't sound particularly good.

BOLTON: No. And I think what's going on here is the continuing instability that, in effect, the U.S. helped bring on by pushing former President Musharraf out of power a couple of years ago, trying to force Pakistan into elections.

I think the U.S. focus going forward has to be to continue to press the Pakistani military to take the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda forward, and also to try and influence -- and this is difficult, I acknowledge -- but to try and influence personnel and personnel decisions within the Pakistani military to favor a pro-American, anti-radical Islamist line.

We've allowed a lot of time to go by without enough education of Pakistani officers in the United States, and I think you can see at the lower levels and some at the higher levels are decidedly anti-American. I think that's what this harassment and denial of visas in part is all about.

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, we were there just a short time ago, and what was stunning, just after the United States announced $7.5 billion in aid to this country and the newspapers and the country and everyone was complaining, saying horrible things about the United States, saying that we had tied strings to their money.

The level of hostility -- and I haven't been in every country in the world -- but you could almost feel the hostility against an American in a city that was one of their safest cities. So it's astounding how hostile we witnessed this country, many are against the United States.

BOLTON: And let's not forget, the United States has supported Pakistan over many years during the cold war and in tilting more toward Pakistan and against India in many conflicts.

So this anti-Americanism is a consequence, it's an evidence of the growth of radical Islamism, the funding of radical madrassas over a large number of years.

We are really in a race against time inside Pakistan. Our ability to influence events is not great. But we've got to continue to do it to make sure that the government is not further destabilized, fall into the hands of radical Islamists, and see that large arsenal of nuclear weapons potentially deliverable to terrorists around the world.

VAN SUSTEREN: But it's almost as though we're caught between a rock and a hard place in Pakistan, because they seem so ungrateful about this $7.5 billion. So the tendency -- at least my first thought is we won't give it to you, we'll take it back. But if we do that, then a government that is very unstable is going to fail and it's going to go to the Islamist extremists.

Meanwhile, India next door is saying, you give $7.5 billion to them and they're breeding terrorists. You don't give it us, and we're not doing it, and they hate Pakistan. Sort that out for me.

BOLTON: I think actually one of the accomplishments the Bush administration doesn't get a lot of credit for -- and I think Secretary Powell deserves a lot of the credit that should be due -- is we now have better relations with Pakistan and India combined.

I think that at any point since the two countries became independent from Britain, before it's been a zero-sum game, down with India and up with Pakistan. We're doing better with both.

The fact is, when it comes to Pakistan, you've got to grit your teeth, you've got to keep your eye on our national security objective, which is making sure that country's nuclear weapons don't fall into the hands of Pakistani Taliban and Al Qaeda, and you've got to play a long and determined game to move the military and civil society, too, away from Islamism and toward a recognition that they've got a place in the broader world.

That's not easy. It's the source of enormous frustration. But, again, it's something we just have to have determination to continue. We've been hot and cold with Pakistan over the years. We've got to bear down now, because we are right at the cusp of this issue. We could lose Pakistan in a relatively short period of time.

And that's just not one more country that radicals will take over, it's a country with a substantial stock of nuclear weapons that can come back to bite us all over the world.

VAN SUSTEREN: Ambassador, thank you, sir.

BOLTON: Thank you.

[Awesome]

Not granting visas and security checks are not really harassment. If you can't go through security checks which will help protect Pakistan you have no business being in Pakistan.

Not to mention the horrible security checks and the visa denials that are done by the US against Pakistanis as well. It's not tit for tat, racial profiling. It's just necessary to be extra careful. Nobody should get a free pass. I'm happy to hear such measures are finally being taken.

[Gin ka Pakistan]

On Wednesday, two Pakistani employees of a U.S. consulate and their police escort were detained while traveling in Baluchistan province in the country's southwest to prepare for a visit involving a development project, an embassy statement said. It called upon Pakistani officials "to cease these contrived incidents involving U.S. mission vehicles and personnel."

What are they doing in Baluchistan with private number cars

[courageneverdies]

US says Pakistan harassing its diplomats

And what of these diplomats harassing Pakistanis? Every diploamt has to follow a certain code of conduct which indeed these Americans aren't.

KIT Out

[Bhushan]

Thread already exits. Mods please merge the threads.

http://www.defence.pk/forums/strateg...lomats-us.html

[TOPGUN]

Wat do u expect when these people are of US orgin and in cars with wepons or just happend to be around some sentive area doing wat? its our country we will do wat we want too.. and i dont trust these americans no one in the wordl does . It makes one wonder wat they are up to so if we are beefing up our forces to check them nothing wrong with that.

[salman108]

Pak harassing our diplomats: US

ISLAMABAD: The US embassy in Pakistan complained that its diplomats are being harassed and detained as they travel in the country, illustrating heightened tensions between the allies as US expands its presence here.

The rare public protest reflects the rising frustration among US officials over alleged Pakistani efforts to stymie Washington’s moves to add hundreds more staff and more space to its embassy in Islamabad.

US officials say they need more room and people to help disburse a $7.5 billion humanitarian aid package to Pakistan, whose cooperation Washington needs to fight al-Qaida-allied militants along the Pakistan-Afghan border.

In recent weeks, American diplomats have faced lengthy delays in receiving approvals for visas and visa extensions. Some also have been stopped at checkpoints by police who have in a couple of cases temporarily confiscated their cars.

On Wednesday, two Pakistani employees of a US consulate and their police escort were detained while traveling in Baluchistan to prepare for a visit involving a development project, an embassy statement said. It called upon Pakistani officials "to cease these contrived incidents involving US mission vehicles and personnel."

The statement also quoted US ambassador Anne Patterson as pushing Pakistan to implement an agreement to identify diplomatic vehicles in a safe manner.

Awwwww
Americans crying as usual !
I am going to try get some material on US soldiers when they cry like little girls and run scared.
At instances in south Afghanistan we have seen a whole company run scared when only 4-5 Talibs are in the area.


As for US Diplomats, if the Gov of Pakistan is bound by some treaty then so be it.
People of Pakistan should first kill any US national they see roaming around and later think of any thing else.

=

[ajpirzada]

lolz. if they travel on there will without gettin permission then surely they should be 'harassed'.
they dont mind doin strip search of our citizens but when it comes them there is a problem.
stop roamin around kahuta or their will be more 'harassing'.

[S-2]

"Not to mention the horrible security checks and the visa denials that are done by the US against Pakistanis..."

Horrible security checks? What are you babbling in light of Pakistan's behavior to our diplomats whom are afforded immunity by protocol and require severe security arrangements to stay alive long enough in your country to do their jobs. It is from Pakistan's border area that the worst attack upon American civilians was planned. Nonetheless, Pakistan's embassy is staffed by the full complement which has been requested.

MORE IMPORTANTLY-

Some 210,000 U.S. citizens of Pakistani descent reside in our nation, many of them first generation Americans (i.e. immigrants). The Pakistani Embassy estimates there are at least another 290,000 Pakistanis living here on temporary or work visas as well as illegally.

Care to compare any of that to Pakistan.

Who's getting harassed again?

Thanks.

[Aeronaut]

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"Not to mention the horrible security checks and the visa denials that are done by the US against Pakistanis..."

Horrible security checks? What are you babbling in light of Pakistan's behavior to our diplomats whom are afforded immunity by protocol and require severe security arrangements to stay alive long enough in your country to do their jobs. It is from Pakistan's border area that the worst attack upon American civilians was planned. Nonetheless, Pakistan's embassy is staffed by the full complement which has been requested.

MORE IMPORTANTLY-

Some 210,000 U.S. citizens of Pakistani descent reside in our nation, many of them first generation Americans (i.e. immigrants). The Pakistani Embassy estimates there are at least another 290,000 Pakistanis living here on temporary or work visas as well as illegally.

Care to compare any of that to Pakistan.

Who's getting harassed again?

Thanks.

I reckon here is a matter of common misunderstanding between Pakistan and USA.

Also i think if US embassy staff will cruise around in the cars with "Fake" Registration they should expect to be in trouble as any other Country's Traffic police has to stop this from happening.

Since Pakistani Nation is highly angry at the presence of Black water and Drone attacks US officials are on a high risk so it is a responsibility of law enforcement bodies in Pakistan to make sure they remain safe.

But by cursing around too much without protection can be dangerous. I think the gravity of the matter is not being understood security checks are in place to protect our visitors and not to harass them.

Regards: