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Afghan envoy-designate abducted

ISLAMABAD: Still reeling from the blast two days ago at the Marriott Hotel, Pakistan suffered another setback on Monday with the abduction in Peshawar of the Afghan Ambassador-designate to the country.

Abdul Khaliq Farahi, who is currently the Afghan Consul-General in Peshawar, was kidnapped in broad daylight from an upscale neighbourhood of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) capital.

Peshawar Police said his car was ambushed on Monday afternoon by unidentified men in another car. They forced his driver to stop and shot him dead, before taking Mr. Farahi hostage.

The diplomat was a well-known face in Peshawar, having served for many years as the Consul-General in the city known as the gateway to Afghanistan, and which the Pakistani Taliban have been eyeing as they increase their geographical spread and influence.

Local reports said Mr. Farahi, who was in four-wheel drive with diplomatic number plates, had no security escort. He was recently named as the Ambassador and was waiting for his papers to be processed by the Pakistan government.

There was no claim by any group for the abduction, which took place in a part of Peshawar that is adjacent to the Khyber tribal agency.

In February, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Tariq Azizuddin was kidnapped in Khyber when he was en route to Kabul by road from Peshawar. He was released 96 days later by the Tehreek-e-Taliban in South Waziristan. Pakistan, whose relations with Afghanistan are sour over allegations that the Taliban is receiving assistance from here, has issued a strong condemnation of the abduction, which it described as an “unfortunate incident.”

The Foreign Ministry said in a release that the government “assures the government of Afghanistan and the family of the Ambassador-designate that it is taking all necessary measures for his safe and early recovery.”

Meanwhile, the government added a fresh twist to the Marriott blast with the revelation that Speaker Fehmida Mirza was to host an iftar for the President, Prime Minister and other top functionaries at the hotel, but the venue was shifted at the last minute to the Prime Minister’s house due to security fears. Rehman Malik, who functions as Interior Minister, had said on Sunday that the Marriott was the specific target because of its international image and as a symbol of Pakistan’s economy. On Monday, he said the political leadership of the country, which was to have assembled in its entirety at the hotel for the reception, was the actual target of the attack. The dinner, attended by President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the country’s top brass and several other political leaders and dignitaries, was under way at the Prime Minister’s house, less than a kilometre away from the hotel, at the time of the blast.

“The suicide blast was aimed at targeting [the] political leadership but the government foiled the malicious designs of the terrorists by changing the venue of [the] iftar dinner hosted by Speaker [of the] National Assembly from Marriott Hotel to [the] Prime Minister’s House,” said Mr. Malik at the Chaklala Air Base, where he and other government officials had assembled to send home the body of Czech Ambassador Ivo Zdarek, who was killed in the blast.

However, the Marriott owner, Sadruddin Hashwani, denied that the top leaders were scheduled to dine at the hotel on Saturday night and changed the venue at the last minute. He told the BBC that no government event was scheduled at the hotel that night.

Mr. Malik said at a press conference on Sunday that contrary to reports, there was no panic at the outdoor dinner when the massive blast shook the capital. Mr. Zardari declined to move indoors, and the President and the Prime Minister rose only after finishing their dinner. The Indian High Commission here announced the cancellation of its iftar reception, which was scheduled for Thursday, “in solidarity with our friends in Pakistan, whose grief we share.” A press release from the High Commission said it would be “inappropriate” to go ahead with the reception “at a time of such grief.”

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