Pakistani police confiscate arms from US officials
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Islamabad, June 5, IRNA -- Police in northwest Pakistan has confiscated arms recovered from two vehicles of American embassy officials, police said.
The American embassy officials, traveling in two cars, were stopped in the outskirts of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province for illegally carrying weapons, a police officer said.
TV footage showed the foreigners’ weapons including pistols and six automatic rifles. The police said that the American diplomats did not have a permit for carrying any of them.
The US Consul General Mary Richard reached the site after receiving information and said that the weapons can be seized but the foreigners should not be taken into custody.
The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa issued new instructions to the provincial administration last week where it listed a change in rules for diplomatic heads of mission and the consular staff.
The notice also said that diplomats, councilors, and members of diplomatic missions cannot carry weapons unless given express permission by the government.
The American diplomats had also been detained in the past for trying to illegally enter Peshawar, where all foreigners are required to get special permission.
Officials say that security agencies are now closely monitoring movement of American diplomats after the American officials admitted in May last year that the CIA had set up a secret base in Abbotabad where the US military had killed Osama bin Laden.
The arrest of under cover CIA agent Raymond Davis in the city of Lahore in February last year also raised concerns about the American intelligence illegal activities in Pakistan. Davis had killed two Pakistani citizens.
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Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 1020121
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