Reports about threat to Jordanian ambassador in Pakistan ‘baseless’
53 viewsBy admin - Wed Mar 24, 8:43 pm
The security measures for diplomats in Islamabad are very effective, the Pakistani ambassador to Jordan said while dismissing as baseless news reports of a kidnapping attempt targeting Jordan’s ambassador to Pakistan.
“We have never witnessed any such incident involving any kidnapping attempt of any diplomat before. Our security system is strong and capable of securing the safety of foreign diplomatic missions to Pakistan,” Pakistan’s head of mission to the Kingdom, Mohammad Akhtar Tufail, told The Jordan Times here the other day.
On Monday, Pakistani police arrested two suspected Taliban militants for planning to attack top hotels and kidnap diplomats in Pakistan. Tufail said no further details were disclosed at the time with regards to the militants’ identities or their targets.
He described reports that the group was plotting to kidnap Jordan’s ambassador as “mere speculation” not based in concrete facts, stressing that the official statement issued by his government said that the group targeted the ambassador of an Islamic country without specifying its name.
Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications and Government Spokesperson Nabil Sharif told The Jordan Times that the government is coordinating with Pakistan regarding the incident.
“We are in contact with the Pakistani authorities and are awaiting details,” Sharif said, adding that the government has confidence in the ability of Pakistani authorities to protect the Jordanian embassy and its staff against any threat. Tufail said Jordan and Pakistan enjoy a high level of cooperation and constant coordination in terms of exchanging information on various issues and at all levels.
Several news agencies claimed Tuesday that the ambassador, Saleh Jawarneh, was the target of a kidnapping attempt.
According to Sharif, Jawarneh is currently in Jordan for his annual vacation.
In January, Al Qaeda released a video showing Jordanian Humam Khalil Abu Mulal Al Balawi, who blew himself up in Afghanistan killing seven CIA officers and his Jordanian handler in Afghanistan on December 30, calling for more attacks in his homeland and the United States.
