Posted on 06/05/2003 6:03:28 AM PDT by milestogo
Pakistan epicentre of terrorism: US diplomat
By Khalid Hasan
WASHINGTON: A US embassy official in Islamabad has called Pakistan “the epicentre of terrorism”.
The remark, quoted in the Christian Science Monitor on Tuesday, came from the US embassy’s Regional Security Officer Michael Evanoff, who told the newspaper, “This is now the epicentre of terrorism. It really is. This is the only country I know in the world that has so many groups that are against the US or Western ideals.” “Last year alone, these groups pulled off seven strikes against the US community here, including a March church bombing in Islamabad that killed five - among them an American woman from the embassy and her daughter - and a June truck bomb at the Karachi consulate that killed 14 Pakistanis,” he said.
The report says “the routine attacks and constant threats have turned the US installations here into virtual fortresses. The sprawling compound in Islamabad is surrounded by thick brick ramparts, topped with razor wire, and reinforced by steel pillars to keep a vehicle from smashing through. Staff members have been trained to check their cars for bombs and their residences for suspicious behaviour. In 2001, two diplomats found small explosive devices had been attached to their cars using magnets. In 1979, Pakistani students, enraged by a false radio report which claimed the US had bombed Islamam’s holy site at Mecca, stormed the embassy and burned much of it to the ground, endangering dozens of diplomats holed up in a reinforced area. Hence, explains Evanoff, the current plan to evacuate.”
The Monitor report notes that Ambassador Nancy Powell travels through town in an armoured car, with two diplomatic security agents always at her side. When she visits consulates in Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi, she is trailed by pickup trucks packed with elite, US-trained Pakistani forces. To deter would-be attackers, few of her movements are never announced in advance. “I do a lot of things at the last minute. My official events have not been hampered by this. I go where I need to go,” she told the newspaper.
According to the report, “Diplomatic security agents do more than just guard diplomatic staff — they also review a daily flood of threats. And theyy’ve had some success averting tragedy. A bomb attack planned for another Protestant church on Christmas Eve never took place, after Evanoff and his staff got wind of the scheme and contacted local officials. ‘It was the best Christmas present we could have had,’ Evanoff says. Yet the constant threats have affected the US Embassy’s effectiveness in other ways.” The newspaper reports that the State Department has dramatically reduced staff in Pakistan, with more than 7,000 temporary staffers having come through Pakistan since September 11, a State Department record. “US Ambassador Nancy Powell admits the constant turnover puts a strain on contacts in a country where personal relationships with local officials are crucial. ‘For those working on economic assistance, or on our law-enforcement programmes, making the contacts and getting up to speed on the political situation in Pakistan is absolutely key,’ she says. ‘And [turnover] is a detriment.’”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.