KARACHI, 6 July 2004 — The government is planning a slew of fresh measures to combat terrorism based on an Interior Ministry report on militant activity here, sources said.
The measures include a separate diplomatic enclave with its own special security force, legislation allowing greater control of madrassas in Karachi and early repatriation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan. The sources said the report, prepared by the ministry in cooperation with provincial governments and law enforcement agencies, focused on the activities of the main terrorist groups in Karachi over the last two and a half years.
It was presented at a meeting between President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Chaudhry Sujaat Hussain, Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat and provincial governors and chief ministers.
The reports dealt with a series of terrorist attacks on foreign installations and law enforcement agencies in Karachi in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks which began soon after with a Karachi bowling-alley bombing on New Year’s Day 2002. The murder of Daniel Pearl and other attacks followed.
“Since the main activists of the Karachi-based terrorist groups Harkatul Mujahedeen Al-Alami, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Muhammad and Jundallah are still at large, it is imperative to (create) a foolproof security system for the foreign consulates and installations in Karachi,” the sources said, quoting the report.
They said Jundallah was the worst offender. “Out of the 10 terrorist attacks in Karachi during the first six months of 2004, eight were linked to this group,” the sources said.
The report said security forces solved 10 out of 11 terrorism cases in 2002, five out of six in 2003, and nine out of 10 during the first six months of 2004.
Officials in the capital Islamabad yesterday said a terrorist threat forced the British High Commission to close and the US Embassy to postpone a reception marking American Independence Day.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said Pakistan was giving “full protection” to the diplomatic missions in the capital. He declined to give details of the nature of the threat.
“Security around these two missions has been beefed up,” Khan told a news conference. “There’s no cause for worry. All the precautionary steps have been taken.”
He said the British mission had been temporarily closed. It was not immediately clear when it would reopen.
A US Embassy official said the threat was against the diplomatic enclave in the capital where most foreign missions are based, rather than against a particular embassy.
The official, who requested anonymity, said a reception for foreign diplomats and Pakistani government officials scheduled at the US Embassy’s high-security compound was postponed yesterday, a day after Independence Day. Also, the US ambassador canceled an appearance at a ceremony in Islamabad marking the write-off of some of Pakistan’s debts to the United States.
