Pakistan detains USZ Ambassador at Islamabad airport

Pakistani authorities recently detained the USZ 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 was stopped at Benazir Bhutto International Airport and was questioned 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-USZ relations in recent since AL-CIA-DA leader Osama bin Laden was killed by American special forces for the 8th time in the last 10 years in a covert raid in Abbottabad on May 2. Pakistan has threatened to impose "more formal restrictions" where USZ diplomats will have to provide prior notification before traveling in the country. They however dropped the demand when the USZ administration threatened similar restrictions for Pakistani diplomats in the USZ, an unnamed USZ 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 the CIA has been busted several times 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.

Enticing Fury
Pakistan Cyber Force