Author: Press Trust of India
Publication: NDTV.com
Date: August 1, 2011
URL: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/pakistan-detains-us-ambassador-at-islamabad-airport-asks-for-noc-123330
Pakistani authorities recently detained the
US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter, at Islamabad airport. Pakistani
officials said they were enforcing a rule that requires all foreign diplomats
to have a "No-objection Certificate" (NoC) for travelling outside
Islamabad.
Mr Munter, who reportedly possessed the NoC,
was stopped at Benazir Bhutto International Airport, and asked about the document,
while he was travelling to Karachi last week. The envoy "strongly protested"
the incident, which was subsequently taken up with President Asif Ali Zardari,
the Dawn newspaper reported.
The incident reflects the tensions that have
characterized Pakistan-US relations in recent since al-Qaeda leader Osama
bin Laden was killed by American special forces in a covert raid in Abbottabad
on May 2.
Pakistan has threatened to impose "more
formal restrictions" where US diplomats will have to provide prior notification
before traveling in the country. They however dropped the demand when the
US administration threatened similar restrictions for Pakistani diplomats
in the US, an unnamed US official was quoted as saying by ABC News.
Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)
has also begun keeping a close watch on American diplomats in the wake of
the raid against Bin Laden as it believed the CIA was running a secret network
of American and Pakistani operatives in the country.
When contacted the Pakistani Foreign Office
sought to play down the incident involving Ambassador Munter. Spokesperson
Tehmina Janjua said that "no US-specific" travel restrictions had
been applied.
"However, there are general guidelines
regarding the travel of Pakistan-based diplomats, designed only to ensure
their safety and security, which have existed for a long time," she said
in a statement.
