US ambassador stopped at Islamabad airport; asked about NoC

SHASH2K2

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US ambassador stopped at Islamabad airport; asked about NoC



ISLAMABAD: The US lodged a strong protest with Pakistani authorities after ambassador Cameron Munter was stopped at the airport here by officials enforcing a rule that requires all foreign diplomats to have a "no-objection certificate" for travelling outside Islamabad.

Munter, who reportedly possessed the NoC, was stopped at Benazir Bhutto International Airport and asked about the document while he was travelling to Karachi last week.

The envoy "strongly protested" about the incident, which was subsequently taken up with President Asif Ali Zardari, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The incident reflected the tensions that have characterised US-Pakistan relations since al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by American special forces in a covert raid in Abbottabad on May 2.

Pakistan had threatened to impose "more formal restrictions" on travel by all US diplomats and to require prior notification but dropped the demand when the American administration threatened similar restrictions for Pakistani diplomats in the US, an unnamed US official was quoted as saying by ABC News.

Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence began keeping a close watch on American diplomats in the wake of the raid against bin Laden as it believed the CIA was running a secret network of American and Pakistani operatives in the country.

The foreign office sought to play down the incident involving Ambassador Munter, with spokesperson Tehmina Janjua saying "no US-specific" travel restrictions had been applied.

"However, there are general guidelines regarding travel of Pakistan-based diplomats, designed only to ensure their safety and security, which have existed for a long time," she said in a statement.
 

sayareakd

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Strip search Pakistani diplomats and ISI agents that will take care of this problem.
 

pmaitra

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I have a slightly different take on this.

There have been reports of Indians (diplomat included) being searched at US airports. I'm afraid I am not able to see why one should make a hue and cry out of this. If there is a protocol for diplomats requiring a NoC, then the diplomat should follow it. As simple as that.
 

thakur_ritesh

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I have a slightly different take on this.

There have been reports of Indians (diplomat included) being searched at US airports. I'm afraid I am not able to see why one should make a hue and cry out of this. If there is a protocol for diplomats requiring a NoC, then the diplomat should follow it. As simple as that.
exactly, what is on display is the usual high headedness on part of the US. when the same happens to other countries diplomats in the US it is a part of the procedure that they very strictly want to follow, but if someone else does it to them, it becomes harassment.
 

The Messiah

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I have a slightly different take on this.

There have been reports of Indians (diplomat included) being searched at US airports. I'm afraid I am not able to see why one should make a hue and cry out of this. If there is a protocol for diplomats requiring a NoC, then the diplomat should follow it. As simple as that.
exactly, what is on display is the usual high headedness on part of the US. when the same happens to other countries diplomats in the US it is a part of the procedure that they very strictly want to follow, but if someone else does it to them, it becomes harassment.
Agreed.

Infact we should do it aswell.
 

Tshering22

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Guess the extra aid package was sent faster than usual today from Beijing to Islamabad. :lol: I don't see how the latter would have the guts to do this had some form of backing not been there from the Red Dragon.
 

Yusuf

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Guess the extra aid package was sent faster than usual today from Beijing to Islamabad. :lol: I don't see how the latter would have the guts to do this had some form of backing not been there from the Red Dragon.
Since when did Beijing start providing aid to Pak? Its only business for them and fight India till the last Pakistani. No money or Chicom lives for Pak mate.
 

dineshchaturvedi

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these news make me very happy, US is not one who takes things lying down. Last time it was FAI, who is next?
 

Blackwater

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Guess the extra aid package was sent faster than usual today from Beijing to Islamabad. :lol: I don't see how the latter would have the guts to do this had some form of backing not been there from the Red Dragon.
Yes it seems papa china has given green signal to its puppy. That's why puppy start barking.
 
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johnee

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Two lovers are having love tiffs. Unless it ends up in break up, it is business as usual.
 

ganesh177

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I dont think US will make much of a issue out of this.
After all when they follow strict rules in america they give explanation that we are not stopping anyone to follow same protocols in vicitms country. That is why brazil started going hard on american diplomats, and india/pak should do the same with the matter of time.
 

Virendra

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Picking Americans out and doing stringent checking is like taking a revenge. This is justified only if its a part of our national vigilance culture and Government's anti-terror policies etc. If dogs loiter on our airports and we frisk American diplomats because they frisk us - I would call it disgusting and immature.

I don't know if the Americans frisk others, like British diplomats, the same way they frisk us. But if we ought to do it like a responsible nation, the above isn't the way for it.

Regards,
Virendra
 

asianobserve

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exactly, what is on display is the usual high headedness on part of the US. when the same happens to other countries diplomats in the US it is a part of the procedure that they very strictly want to follow, but if someone else does it to them, it becomes harassment.
Bandwagon of idiocy. Didn't you red the article? Tha ambassador was armed with an NOC yet he was still stopped. Can't Pakis read their own document that it would take them sometime to realized the paper that are being waved in front of them is their own country's NOC?
 

The Messiah

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Bandwagon of idiocy. Didn't you red the article? Tha ambassador was armed with an NOC yet he was still stopped. Can't Pakis read their own document that it would take them sometime to realized the paper that are being waved in front of them is their own country's NOC?
Indian diplomats with diplomatic passports are still hassled for the sake of 'procedure'. Dont the yanks know how to deal with international personnel waving special diplomatic passports in front of them ?
 

Sridhar

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From the link provided by sanjay

In its easing of the travel restrictions, Pakistan furnished the U.S. embassy in Islamabad with blanket "no objection certificates," allowing the diplomats to move unimpeded within the country for a month. Despite the waiver, the restrictions remain formally in place. U.S. diplomats may still be asked to demonstrate that they have permission to travel and will have to seek extensions of their no-objection certificates on a monthly basis.

Read more: Pakistan's ISI in Dispute with U.S. Diplomats and CIA - TIME
 

pmaitra

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Bandwagon of idiocy. Didn't you red the article? Tha ambassador was armed with an NOC yet he was still stopped. Can't Pakis read their own document that it would take them sometime to realized the paper that are being waved in front of them is their own country's NOC?
Yeah, even I am armed with my passport and other required documents when doing international travel. I am still stopped, both in India and abroad, each and every time. Rules are rules, and everyone has to play by them.
 

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