By IRNA,
Islamabad : The US Mission to Pakistan is concerned about the continued provocative actions and false allegations against US personnel working to implement the new partnership between the leaders of Pakistan and the United States, the US embassy said Thursday.
Pakistani authorities recently briefly detained US petsonnel and their vehicles in different parts of the country for what they say using fake number flats for their diplomatic cars.
“The US Embassy today called for immediate action by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has responsibility to facilitate proper arrangements under which a foreign mission may operate with full security,” the US embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire said.
In the most recent incident, on January 6, 2010, a US Consulate General vehicle with two Pakistani employees of the Consulate and their Sindh police constable escort were detained on Wednesday when traveling in Gwadar, Snelsire said in a statement.
He said the staff was preparing for the upcoming visit of US development assistance staff to one of Pakistan’s most impoverished regions. “The US Embassy emphasizes that all US vehicles in Pakistan are appropriately registered with the Pakistani authorities and carry at all times full documentation attesting to their legal status”.
The spokesman said the two Consulate employees and their police escort were carrying all the required documents and had met in Turbat with the Police Commissioner as part of their work.
Speaking in Karachi on Thursday, US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson pointed out that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is obliged to provide proper arrangements in order to address the security concerns of foreign diplomats in Pakistan, he said.
The Ambassador offered assurances that American diplomats and their staff will comply with all Government of Pakistan procedures, but that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not yet implemented the agreed upon procedures
The spokesman said the US Mission renews its call on Government of Pakistan officials to implement immediately the mutually agreed upon procedures for the issuance of license plates to US Mission vehicles and to cease these contrived incidents involving US Mission vehicles and personnel.