The Government of Pakistan has lodged a strong protest with the Afghan Government over the attack on the Pakistan Embassy by an armed crowd in Kabul this morning. The Afghan Cd’A was summoned today to the Foreign Office. The Acting Foreign Secretary, while conveying the protest and grave concern of the Government of Pakistan, emphasized that apart from the normal responsibility of the Afghan Government under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, to protect diplomatic Missions, property and personnel, the Afghan authorities were in a position to prevent the assault.
The Embassy had informed the Afghan authorities that after the statement of President Karzai on 6th July 2003, such a demonstration was to be expected, and that adequate security measures must be taken. The Afghan authorities had anticipated that a demonstration was expected at the city center, which could reach to the gates of the Pakistan Embassy, and that the Afghan Security Forces would ensure that no untoward incident took place.
This morning the Afghan Security Forces surrounded the Embassy, and informed that they had been positioned to protect the Embassy. The Pakistan Ambassador then went to meet with a senior Afghan official to seek guarantees for full protection of the Pakistan Embassy premises and personnel. At that point the Afghan Security Forces permitted a mob armed with guns and sticks to violate the premises of the Embassy and to destroy all the Embassy’s equipment and furniture, and also all Embassy vehicles in the compound. The Embassy staff were forced to withdraw to the Residence of the Ambassador.
The Afghan Cd’A was further told that in the past few days there had been a pattern of unjustified official criticism of Pakistan. The movement of the Pakistan army to the international border in the Mohmand Agency, was to secure this area which had become a refuge for terrorists and to seal the border, which had been the constant demand also of the Government of Afghanistan. It was regrettable that Pakistani troops within Pakistan’s territory had been fired upon by Afghan nationals first within the territory of Pakistan and then from across the border. Pakistan has informed the Afghan authorities that any differences on this issue could be resolved at the forthcoming meeting of the Tripartite Commission of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the U.S.
The Acting Foreign Secretary underlined that: the Afghan Government provide immediate and effective security for the Pakistan Embassy in Kabul as well as Pakistan’s other Consulates in Afghanistan; apologize for the assault; pay compensation for the damage inflicted; and hold an enquiry to assign responsibility for the deliberate failure of the security forces to prevent the assault and to identify and punish the perpetrators.
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Islamabad,
8th July 2003
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