PESHAWAR: Gunmen opened fire on the top US diplomat in northwestern region early yesterday as she left for work in her armored vehicle, police and embassy officials said. No one was killed or wounded in the shooting.
Lynne Tracy, principal officer for the consulate in the bustling city of Peshawar, was 100 meters from her house when two men with AK-47s jumped out of their dark blue Land Cruiser and sprayed her car with dozens of rounds of ammunition.
Her driver reversed the vehicle and peeled back to her home, said Arshad Khan, the local police chief and senior investigator in case.
At least 30 people were injured yesterday when a bomb ripped through a political rally by nationalist tribesmen in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan, officials said.
The bombing occurred as the Baloch nationalists observed the second anniversary of the death of their rebellious tribal leader, Nawab Akbar Bugti, who was killed in his cave hide-out during a military operation.
The brazen attack in Peshawar came hours after the collapse of the ruling coalition that drove US ally Pervez Musharraf from the presidency one week ago, throwing more power to Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of assassinated ex-leader Benazir Bhutto.
His party, which holds the largest bloc in Parliament, moved almost immediately to calm US fears that the 5-month-old government was paying too little attention to Islamic militants, banning the Taleban following a string of suicide bombings.
It also rejected a militant cease-fire offer in Bajaur, a rumored hiding place for Osama Bin Laden, where an army offensive has reportedly killed hundreds in recent weeks and sent 200,000 others fleeing.
Though the US considered Musharraf a strong ally, it has remained publicly neutral in the political contest to succeed the president. US officials, however, have questioned outreach to militants like that supported by ex-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose party left the ruling coalition on Monday.
A senior US official confirmed yesterday that Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador to the United Nations, had unusual contacts with Zardari, including multiple recent telephone calls, and had planned to meet with Zardari next week. The contacts angered senior diplomats at the State Department who have tried to give the coalition government room to maneuver. The meeting between Khalilzad and Zardari is now canceled, the official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe Khalilzad’s confidential conversations and the internal Bush administration reaction. The Khalilzad-Zardari contacts were first reported by The New York Times.
