US ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson has expressed concern over security threats to American personnel in the country and said any attack on its diplomats in Lahore might have "alarming" effects on bilateral relations.
Patterson has written a letter to foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in which she said the US mission in Pakistan has been receiving information about terror threats from various sources, including its own intelligence.
She said Pakistani authorities too had sent diplomatic notes calling for strengthening security in view of the situation in the country.
Patterson said, "Pakistani authorities had been unable to address the threats", the Dawn newspaper quoted its sources as saying.
Patterson also expressed concern over media reports in which houses leased by some Americans in Lahore have been identified. She termed the reporting as "irresponsible" and said it was posing threats to US citizens living in the capital of Punjab province.
She warned that any attack on US diplomats in Lahore would have "alarming effects" on bilateral relations and American investments in Pakistan.
Two houses being used by Americans in Lahore were legally rented from retired senior military officers, she said. Patterson said the two Americans who rented these homes had nothing to do with "anybody else or any other theories".
The US government did not consider news reports on homes rented by the Americans as the official policy of the Pakistan government but viewed them as an "incitement for violence against Americans".
Patterson said, according to international laws, the Pakistan government is responsible for protecting diplomats in the country.
She said that the US embassy and its people are striving to promote investments and strengthen relations between the two countries.
Describing the media reports as unfair, Patterson said she had repeatedly raised the issue with authorities but nothing had been done to redress it.
She said she was always ready to discuss the issue with the foreign minister.
Comments