A.Rahman
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Pakistan expels 'spy' diplomat
Consular official 'caught with documents'
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) -- Pakistan on Saturday ordered the expulsion of an Indian diplomat suspected of involvement in spying activities, signalling deepening mistrust between the two South Asian rivals following Mumbai blasts.
The expulsion of Deepak Kaul, a consular official at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, came less than a week after the two countries pledged to push two-and-a-half year old peace process forward.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said the Indian government had been asked to withdraw Kaul by next week.
"He was found involved in activities incompatible with his diplomatic status," she said, referring to the term usually used for spying.
"He was a converted (spy)," she added.
Later India expelled a Pakistan diplomat.
"Yes, we are also sending one diplomat back," the official told Reuters. "We have also lodged a strong protest. Their deputy high commissioner was called in and we lodged a strong protest."
The Press Trust of India reported Kaul was detained when he was on his way to Wagah border crossing in eastern Pakistan to receive his family.
"A group of about eight to nine people pounced on him, hand-cuffed him and took him to an undisclosed location," the agency quoted officials at the Indian High Commission as saying.
Kaul was blindfolded and later handed over to Indian diplomats, they said.
The report said the Indian officials were told that Kaul was "caught with documents".
The peace process had come under severe strain after New Delhi blamed Pakistan-based Islamist militants for the July 9 bombings on commuter trains in India's financial and commercial hub that killed more than 180 people and wounded hundreds more.
India called off a scheduled meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in New Delhi last month, sparking fears that the peace process was on the verge of coming apart.
The two foreign secretaries met in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka last week on the sidelines of a regional conference and vowed to nudge forward the slow-moving peace process.
Analysts say the expulsion of the diplomat showed a downward trend in relations between the two countries, which have fought three wars since their independence from British rule in 1947.
"These are negative trends. It can't be said that such acts will totally reverse the process but these can vitiate the atmosphere and put a further brake on the initiation of the dialogue," analyst and former army general, Talat Masood said.
Indian investigators suspect Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Pakistani military spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence used disaffected Indian Muslims to carry out the Mumbai attacks.
Both Pakistan and Lashkar have denied the charges.
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/...reut/index.html
Consular official 'caught with documents'
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) -- Pakistan on Saturday ordered the expulsion of an Indian diplomat suspected of involvement in spying activities, signalling deepening mistrust between the two South Asian rivals following Mumbai blasts.
The expulsion of Deepak Kaul, a consular official at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, came less than a week after the two countries pledged to push two-and-a-half year old peace process forward.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said the Indian government had been asked to withdraw Kaul by next week.
"He was found involved in activities incompatible with his diplomatic status," she said, referring to the term usually used for spying.
"He was a converted (spy)," she added.
Later India expelled a Pakistan diplomat.
"Yes, we are also sending one diplomat back," the official told Reuters. "We have also lodged a strong protest. Their deputy high commissioner was called in and we lodged a strong protest."
The Press Trust of India reported Kaul was detained when he was on his way to Wagah border crossing in eastern Pakistan to receive his family.
"A group of about eight to nine people pounced on him, hand-cuffed him and took him to an undisclosed location," the agency quoted officials at the Indian High Commission as saying.
Kaul was blindfolded and later handed over to Indian diplomats, they said.
The report said the Indian officials were told that Kaul was "caught with documents".
The peace process had come under severe strain after New Delhi blamed Pakistan-based Islamist militants for the July 9 bombings on commuter trains in India's financial and commercial hub that killed more than 180 people and wounded hundreds more.
India called off a scheduled meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in New Delhi last month, sparking fears that the peace process was on the verge of coming apart.
The two foreign secretaries met in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka last week on the sidelines of a regional conference and vowed to nudge forward the slow-moving peace process.
Analysts say the expulsion of the diplomat showed a downward trend in relations between the two countries, which have fought three wars since their independence from British rule in 1947.
"These are negative trends. It can't be said that such acts will totally reverse the process but these can vitiate the atmosphere and put a further brake on the initiation of the dialogue," analyst and former army general, Talat Masood said.
Indian investigators suspect Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Pakistani military spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence used disaffected Indian Muslims to carry out the Mumbai attacks.
Both Pakistan and Lashkar have denied the charges.
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/...reut/index.html
