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March 2, 2006
Pakistan: Islamists Kill US Diplomat Prior To Bush's Visit
A suicide car bomber in Karachi rammed his vehicle into a diplomatic car outside the US Consulate earlier today, killing an American diplomat, David Foy and two other people in the ensuing explosion, states the Daily Times.
The white vehicle used by the bomber apparently contained 12 to 15 kilogrammes of explosives, when it rammed into the diplomat's larger car around 9 am this morning, local time.
The bomber's car was outside the Naval hospital, apparently waiing. A Rangers security officer asked the driver to move on, but he made an excuse, onlu moving forward to ram the approaching diplomatic vehicle.
Zafar, the Rangers officer was killed in the blast, along with Mr Foy of the US Foreign office and his driver, Iftikhar Ahmed, and the assassin. The blast broke windows in several shops and houses in the vicinity, and injured 54 individuals, including an 8-year old Moroccan girl, who was in a hotel room with her parents. Her father was a diplomat. Five of the injured victims were in critical condition.
The blast left a 15 foot wide crater, more than 3 feet deep in the road.
In two days time, US President George W. Bush, currently in India, is due to officially start his visit Pakistan. In New Delhi, President Bush said: "I have been briefed on the bombings and we have lost at least one US citizen in the bombings - a foreign service officer. Terrorists and killers are not going to prevent me from going to Pakistan." The president will be flying late tomorrow night (Friday 3rd) from India, and will begin talks in Islamabad with Pervez Musharraf on Saturday.
He will be accompanied by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and new Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher. Mr Bush will also be attending a conference on earthquake relief and reconstruction, and will be briefed on the current state of relations between Pakistan and India. He will also be briefed on Pakistan's attempts to secure its border with Afghanistan, where many miltants are hiding out.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. A few hours after this morning's suicide attack, two rockets were fired but landed in a stream near Gadap, a suburb of Karachi.
Online News quoted President Musharraff, who said: "The Pakistani nation offers its deep sorrow and sympathy to the government and people of the United States. We express our profound condolences to the family of David Foy and all the innocent victims of this despicable act. Our thoughts and prayers are with them in this difficult time."
David E. Foy, aged 52, was a native of Fayetteville, North Carolina, who was sent to Pakistan last September, states Associated Press, via Myrtle Beach Online. Mr Foy was married with four daughters. He had entered government employment in 2003.
A State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, said: "We will do all that we can, working with the Pakistani government, to see that those responsible for the attack face justice for what they have done."
The Guardian reported a statement by J. Anthony Holmes, president of the American Foreign Service Association, who said: "This tragic loss underlines the mortal dangers faced by the men and women of the U.S. foreign service who are working under the most extreme circumstances to advance our nation's vital interests around the world."
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at March 2, 2006 6:41 PM
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