US visa service in Pakistan suspended over security
25 Sep 2008 16:48:38 GMT Source: Reuters
(Adds details, background) WASHINGTON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The United States has suspended consular services, such as issuing visas, in Pakistan in response to a worsening security situation there, the State Department said on Thursday. "I think we are taking the steps in response to the security environment in Pakistan," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said. A State Department official said that there had been "a number of threats" against American interests in the country but did not elaborate. "There's a lot of chatter going on and we're obviously very worried about it," he said. Security has deteriorated alarmingly in Pakistan over recent months, with the military attacking al Qaeda and Taliban strongholds in the northwest, while the militants have responded with a string of bomb attacks. A previously unknown group that claimed responsibility for a suicide truck bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad last Saturday that killed 54 people said the Pakistani government should stop cooperating with the United States. Wood said there was no connection between the suspension of U.S. consular services on Thursday and an incident on Thursday in which the Pentagon said U.S. helicopters in Afghanistan were fired on from a Pakistani military checkpoint along the border. "We just had the attack on the Marriott Hotel ... it's of great concern," Wood told reporters. "Therefore we have to look at our security posture and take those measures that we think are necessary." "I don't want to get into the details as to what kind of security threats we are facing out there," Wood said. He said the suspension of consular services was temporary, and that emergency services for American citizens in Pakistan would continue. In addition to its embassy in Islamabad, the United States has consulates in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar. (Editing by Philip Barbara)
France's Prime Minister Francois Fillon (bottom) delivers a speech as French national Assembly's speaker Bernard Accoyer listens during a special session of parliament about Afghanistan at the National Assembly in Paris ...
