Pakistan blames US raids for hotel bombing

Pakistan President pleads with Bush to reverse policy as BA cancels all
flights to country 

By Omar Waraich in Islamabad, Anne Penketh and Andrew Buncombe
Tuesday, 23 September 2008 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/pakistan-blames-us-raids-for-hotel-bombing-938952.html
http://tinyurl.com/4zvp2p

The Pakistani President, Asif Ali Zardari, will plead with President George
Bush today to change a policy which is being blamed for one of his
country's worst terrorist atrocities.

"We hope the US will change policy because this is what is needed," said
Pakistan's ambassador to the UK, Wajid Shamsul Hassan, after 53 people were
killed and more than 250 injured in the bombing of the Marriott Hotel in
Islamabad. He argued that the Bush administration's decision to allow
cross-border incursions from Afghanistan into Pakistan, including by ground
forces on at least one occasion, had been counterproductive "because they
are not killing high-value targets, they are killing civilians".

Mr Zardari's talks with President Bush in New York, on the sidelines of the
UN General Assembly, have been scheduled amid heightened security fears in
the wake of the bombing. 

Yesterday BA cancelled all flights to Pakistan as a precaution, although a
spokesman said there was no direct threat against the airline, which
operates six flights each week. A number of foreign embassies and
businesses in the country are also said to be re-examining the security
situation.

In the north-western city of Peshawar, Abdul Khaliq Farahi, Afghanistan's
designated ambassador to Pakistan, was kidnapped and his driver killed by
unidentified gunmen.

Overnight on Sunday there was further tension on the border when Pakistani
troops reportedly fired shots to warn off two US helicopters that were
attempting to cross into Pakistan at Alwara Mandi in North Waziristan.

A senior Pakistani official claimed that Pakistan's senior leaders were to
have attended a dinner at the Marriott Hotel but changed their venue to the
Prime Minister's house just hours before the massive bomb devastated the
building.

The Interior Ministry chief, Rehman Malik, said the decision to move the
location of the dinner for the President and Prime Minister had been kept
secret but did not provide details of why the switch was made.

However, it later emerged that the invitations to the Prime Minister's
residence were sent out 10 days ago.

"The dinner was never going to be at the Marriott," said Talat Hussain, a
political analyst and director of current affairs at Aaj TV. "We were all
issued invitations well in advance that it was to take place at the Prime
Minister's house. And by claiming that they had managed to move the
political leadership to another location, it asks the question, if there is
a security threat, is it only for VIPs? Are the rest of us children of a
lesser god?"

Mr Malik could not be reached for further clarification last night.

Who carried out Saturday night's attack remains unclear. Mr Malik had
previously said the hotel was attacked by Taliban or al-Qa'ida militants
simply because it was a Western target. 

But his remarks raise the question as to why – if the government had
received intelligence that the Marriott might be attacked – was security at
the hotel not immediately increased.

The attack on the hotel and the shockwaves it has sent through Pakistan are
just the latest challenges confronting the country's civilian leadership
and its recently elected president, Mr Zardari. Under pressure from the US,
Mr Zardari, the widower of the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, has
vowed to continue the battle against Islamic militants operating in the
country's tribal areas despite growing resentment inside Pakistan about
interference from Washington.

Mr Hassan said that the Pakistan President had gained the support of Gordon
Brown in opposing the US raids on Pakistani territory, during talks in
London last week.

Mr Zardari is to chair the first meeting of the Friends of Pakistan –
grouping the US, Britain and the other G8 countries as well as the United
Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and China – in New York on Friday. Pakistan is
looking for short-term help for economic measures to stimulate employment,
and longer-term assistance for social development in deprived areas.

53

The number of people killed in suicide bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel in
Islamabad.
-- 
Facts are sacred ... but comment is free