It was revealed in May that the White House has asked Congress for $736 million to build a new U.S. embassy in Islamabad, along with permanent housing for U.S. government civilians and new office space in the Pakistani capital. The scale of the projects rivals the giant U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which was completed last year after construction delays at a cost of $740 million.
McClatchy Newspapers quoted senior State Department officials said the expanded diplomatic presence is needed to replace overcrowded, dilapidated and unsafe facilities and to support a "surge" of civilian officials into Afghanistan and Pakistan ordered by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Other major projects are planned for Kabul, Afghanistan; and for the Pakistani cities of Lahore and Peshawar. In Peshawar, the U.S. government is negotiating the purchase of the Pearl Contintental is the city's only five-star hotel, that would house a new U.S. consulate.
In Islamabad, according to State Department budget documents, the plan calls for the rapid construction of a $111 million new office annex to accommodate 330 workers; $197 million to build 156 permanent and 80 temporary housing units; and a $405 million replacement of the main embassy building.
The U.S. government also plans to revamp its consular buildings in the eastern city of Lahore and in Peshawar. Peshawar is an important station for gathering intelligence on the tribal area that surrounds the city on three sides. The consulate in the southern mega city of Karachi has just been relocated into a new purpose-built accommodation.
"This is a replay of Baghdad," said Senator Khurshid Ahmad, a member of Pakistan's upper house of parliament for Jamaat-e-Islami, one of the country's two main religious political parties. "This (Islamabad embassy) is more (space) than they should need. It's for the micro and macro management of Pakistan, and using Pakistan for pushing the American agenda in Central Asia."
Makhdoom Javed Hashmi labeled the mega US embassy as a mini Pentagon in Islamabad.
On September 12, a petition has been filed in the Supreme Court of Pakistan seeking to restrain the Americans from getting further 18 acres of land over and above the 38 acres already acquired by them, for expansion of the US Embassy in Islamabad.
The petitioners, Watan Party and Barrister Zafarullah Khan, have also urged the
Apex Court to prevent the Americans from hiring as many as 250 offices in
Islamabad and that no diplomatic mission may be allowed to get on lease or
through sale land more than the requirement of the diplomatic mission.
The lawyer further disclosed that Islamabad had provided the US with access to data of the country's telecom authority, from which information about Pakistani citizens could be attained. "The rights of Pakistani citizens are compromised. Such activities should be stopped," he demanded.
The petitioner argues that contrary to the trend, set by the age of communication, of cutting down the staff, America is extraordinarily enhancing the presence of its staff in Islamabad, which may also include 1000 marines with latest equipment, which may be a means to � ��˜bring us down on our knees' and to � ��˜capture our nuclear facility' so that Pakistan could get the same treatment the US meted out to South Korea, Taiwan, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
The capitulating terms for the new five year US aid to Pakistan came at a time when the Pakistani media is buzzing with stories about the operation of the ill-famed Blackwater mercenary army in Islamabad and Peshawar, the capital of North Western Frontier Province where the army has launched operations to contain militant insurgency.
The National Assembly Standing Committee for Human Rights on September 29 expressed serious concerns over presence of Blackwater and its secret activities in the country and constituted five-member committee under the leadership of PML-N leader Javed Hashmi to review the matter. Inspector General Islamabad Syed Kaleem Imam informed the committe that the US embassy has taken 240 houses on rent in the federal capital, while the officials of US security agency Black Water was giving training to Pakistani officials. North West Frontier Province Inspector General of Police Malik Naveed Khan told the meeting that 29 officials of US security agency DynCorp are residing in Peshawar.
Many people in Pakistan believe that Afghanistan, India, Israel and US are involved in the current turmoil and violence in the tribal areas of Northern Pakistan and Baluchistan to destabilize the country. This is reflected in opinion polls. A survey in August for Al Jazeera TV by Gallup Pakistan found that 59 percent of Pakistanis felt the greatest threat to the country was the United States. A separate survey in August by the Washington-based Pew Research Center, recorded that 64 percent of the Pakistani public regards the U.S. "as an enemy" and only 9 percent believe it to be a partner.
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