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Diplomats from over 35 countries in Islamabad have expressed concerns over the law and order and crime situation in Pakistan's federal capital, local media reported on Wednesday.
The foreign officials belonging to the Far East, Central Asia, Middle East and Africa, met senior officers of the capital police on Monday to discuss security-related issues, sources in the police told Dawn newspaper. A similar meeting was scheduled for Tuesday but it was postponed due to the unavailability of the capital police chief, the report added. During a briefing on Monday, the security staff of some embassies showed concerns over road blockades and sealing of Red Zone which hampered their movements. This comes in the backdrop of the recent protest march organized by former prime minister Imran Khan, that led to large-scale violence in the capital. Against this backdrop, the police provided security cover to diplomats of different countries for over a dozen round trips to the airport from the Diplomatic Enclave in Islamabad. The Pakistani newspaper said embassy officials complained that the security measures from them were kept secret till the eleventh hour. Embassy staff even asked the police to inform the embassies about security measures prior to any protest gathering so that events could be rescheduled according to the circumstances. They expressed concerns over the security situation in Islamabad. Another security staffer asked if Islamabad was safe for a walk, Dawn reported. Concerns were also raised over the spike in street crime in the federal capital, the report said. As per international standards, countries shared crime statistics of their respective capitals with all embassies located there. As a result of this, requests were made to share the crime statistics while calling for greater transparency. (ANI)
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