ISLAMABAD, 26 October 2004 — A top Saudi diplomat has received a parcel disguised as a gift from a former Pakistani premier that contained four grenades and a letter threatening to attack the Saudi Embassy if Saudis do not leave Pakistan, the Saudi ambassador said yesterday.
The deputy head of the Saudi political mission in Pakistan, Abdullah Al-Omari, received the package on Oct. 21 at his residence. He informed Pakistani security forces immediately, and they safely defused the explosives, Ambassador Ali Awadh Asseri said.
Security for Saudi diplomats both in Karachi and Islamabad has since been tightened.
Asseri said the parcel was wrapped in the shape of a gift and was made to appear like it was sent by former Pakistani Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.
Al-Omari will not leave Pakistan and Saudi diplomats working in Pakistan have not received any travel advisory. “They have been asked to be careful,” Asseri said.
“Such threats will only strengthen the friendship between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. This (Pakistan) is home to every Saudi,” Asseri added.
Pakistani authorities were still investigating and nobody has claimed responsibility. But Asseri said in an interview with Al-Arabiya TV channel that he believed that Al-Qaeda network was behind the threat.
Asseri said that the head of a Saudi school in Pakistan has also received a threatening parcel that contained bullets six months ago.
Earlier in July, 2002 security was beefed up around the Saudi Embassy and missions in Pakistan following threats of terror attacks against them. Al-Watan had quoted Ambassador Asseri as saying that following the anonymous threats then to attack Saudi interests in the country, Pakistani Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider issued orders to boost security around the embassy and missions.
Commando units were deployed around the residences of the ambassador and other Saudi diplomats. The ambassador said the terror threats were issued by groups which sought to spoil the good relations between the two countries. The Kingdom, he said, will continue to support Pakistan in its struggle against terror.
Sources say that the latest threat to the Saudi Embassy may be the result of Pak-Saudi alliance in the war on terror. Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are fighting homegrown militants who are targeting Westerners in their countries.
Saudi authorities have carried out numerous anti-terrorism raids in recent months, particularly since last year’s bombings of two housing compounds for foreigners in Riyadh. Saudi and US officials blamed both on Al-Qaeda.
Saudi and Pakistani authorities have detained hundreds of people in the crackdown on suspected militants and urged wanted persons to surrender.
Militants linked to Al-Qaeda terror network have since May 2003 waged a campaign of suicide bombings and shootings in the Kingdom, killing nearly 100 people and injuring more than 200.
The government has launched a massive campaign to root out terrorism from the country with the support of its citizens. Saudi authorities have repeatedly warned that militants who did not surrender would be hunted down.
