[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 44 (Thursday, March 9, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E570]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                          TRAGEDY IN PAKISTAN

                                 ______


                         HON. THOMAS J. MANTON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 9, 1995
  Mr. MANTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call to the attention of my 
colleagues an article which appeared in today's Washington Post. 
Yesterday, in Pakistan, the brutal ambush of a United States consulate 
van left two American diplomats dead and a third wounded. These deaths 
are a constant reminder of the continuation of terrorism in our world. 
In the last 3 months, more than 437 people have been murdered by 
religious zealots in Pakistan alone.
  This cowardly act of terrorism is an unfortunate reminder that we 
must work to end these acts of violence. As we enter a new age of peace 
in many parts of the world, it is important to bring those who continue 
to terrorize others to justice.
  Mr. Speaker, I offer my prayers to the families who lost loved ones 
in this unspeakable incident. I intend to work closely with my 
colleagues to investigate this act of terror and bring those 
responsible to justice.
               [From the Washington Post, March 9, 1995]

                    Karachi Ambush Was Well Planned

                    (By Kamran Khan and Molly Moore)

       Karachi, Pakistan, March 8.--The ambush of a U.S. Consulate 
     van by masked gunmen who killed two Americans and injured a 
     third at a busy intersection in downtown Karachi, Pakistan, 
     this morning was a ``well-planned campaign to create panic 
     and terror'' among Americans and other Westerners, according 
     to a Pakistani official.
       Today's attack marked the first time terrorists have 
     targeted Westerners after a year of rampant religious, ethnic 
     and political violence that has left more than 1,000 people 
     dead in Pakistan's financial and commercial capital.
       In Washington, a senior administration official said one of 
     the two Americans killed was an intelligence agent working 
     under diplomatic cover, but the U.S. government does not 
     believe this was related to the attack.
       Instead, the official said, investigators believe the 
     attack was intended as a payback for the U.S. capture in 
     Pakistan last month of Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, the suspected 
     mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New 
     York, or was related to the ethnic violence in Pakistan. The 
     official said there is ``no evidence whatsoever'' that the 
     assailants knew about the victim's intelligence work.
       As Pakistani authorities vowed to launch a full-scale 
     investigation of today's shooting, Karachi police officials 
     revealed that police in a squad car equipped with a rooftop 
     machine gun were at the intersection where the ambush 
     occurred but refused to
      pursue the attackers' getaway car because they were afraid 
     of being killed.
       Both U.S. and Pakistani officials said the attack appeared 
     to be carefully planned and coordinated, although authorities 
     said no group or organization has claimed responsibility. FBI 
     agents were sent to Pakistan today, and Karachi police said 
     the FBI will lead the investigation.
       U.S. Consulate officials said Gary C. Durell, 45, a 
     communications technician from Alliance, Ohio, was killed 
     instantly when two gunmen opened fire on the van. Jackie Van 
     Landingham, 33, a consulate secretary from Camden, S.C., died 
     of gunshot wounds after being taken to a hospital. Mark 
     McCloy, a 31-year-old mailroom worker from Framingham, Mass., 
     was scheduled to undergo surgery today for his wounds, 
     Pakistani officials said. The three consulate employees were 
     stationed in Karachi with their spouses and children, 
     according to U.S. officials.
       Although officials at the consulate said today that they 
     were taking extra precautions to safeguard personnel, a 
     spokesman said, ``they live and work in this community. We've 
     told people to keep their heads down, but we can't build a 
     wall around them.'' U.S. officials said there are no plans to 
     close the consulate or evacuate family members.
       U.S. and Pakistani authorities condemned the assault, which 
     occurred as the van, with an identifying license plate, was 
     driving the three employees to work at the consulate from the 
     diplomatic residential neighborhood at about 7:45 a.m.
       ``This wanton act of terrorism deserves the severest 
     condemnation,'' the Pakistani government said. ``It is clear 
     that this tragic incident is part of a premeditated plan to 
     create fear and harassment in sensitive areas of Karachi.''
       In Washington, President Clinton denounced the attack as a 
     ``cowardly act.'' Secretary of State Warren Christopher, 
     arriving in Cairo at the beginning of a visit to the Middle 
     East, said the United States and Pakistan would use ``every 
     means at our disposal to bring those responsible for this 
     crime to justice.''
       The incident came at an awkward time for Pakistani Prime 
     Minister Benazir Bhutto, who is scheduled to visit Washington 
     next month in an effort to improve the uneasy relations 
     between the two countries. Pakistanis have criticized her 
     government for its failure to control the violence in 
     Karachi.
       The White House said today the shooting would not affect 
     first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's scheduled tour of 
     Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh at the end 
     of this month. She will not be visiting Karachi.
       The Pakistani government censored reports of the incident 
     carried today by the BBC and CNN television networks and 
     played down the story on the government-controlled national 
     television network.
       Details of the attack were pieced together by Karachi 
     police, using reports from witnesses and an account provided 
     to U.S. officials by the Pakistani van driver, who was not 
     injured and immediately drove his wounded passengers to one 
     of Karachi's major hospitals.
       According to police, three armed gunmen in a stolen yellow 
     taxi followed the white consulate van for several blocks 
     before opening fire on it with automatic weapons from a 
     distance.
       The yellow taxi then swerved in front of the van and cut it 
     off while a red car blocked the van from the opposite side. 
     At least two masked gunmen then stepped out of the vehicles 
     and began firing on the van, shattering its side windows and 
     spraying the windshield with bullets, according to U.S. 
     officials.
       As the gunmen fired on the van, traffic constable Tanvir 
     Ahmed, who was at the intersection, spotted the police car 
     with the machine gun approaching from an adjacent lane. Ahmed 
     said he dashed toward the police vehicle and pointed to the 
     yellow taxi, then speeding away.
       Ahmed said the officer in charge of the police vehicle 
     responded, ``Stupid, shall we get killed by chasing these 
     people?'' Police officials, who confirmed Ahmed's account, 
     said the police vehicle did not radio for help, but drove six 
     minutes to its home station to report the incident.
       Such a response has not been uncommon among Karachi police. 
     More than 90 law enforcement officials have been killed in 
     Karachi's violence in the past year, including four who were 
     the targets of shooting sprees last weekend.
       U.S. diplomats in Pakistan have become sensitive to 
     terrorism as a result of a 1979 attack on the U.S. Embassy in 
     the capital, Islamabad, in which hundreds of Pakistani men 
     stormed the compound and set several buildings on fire, 
     killing four people. The assault stemmed from unfounded 
     rumors blaming the United States for an attack on the Grand 
     Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest site in Islam.
       Karachi police said several threatening telephone calls 
     have been made to the U.S. Consulate in Karachi in recent 
     weeks.
       Karachi police and Pakistani intelligence sources said 
     today they are investigating an Iranian-backed militant 
     Shiite Muslim organization called Sipahae Muhammad (Army of 
     the Prophet Muhammad). Sipahae Muhammad and other Shiite 
     extremists have accused the United States of fanning 
     Karachi's sectarian violence.


     

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