According to the police, the driver and his helper said that the equipment had been loaded by some “American officials in Peshawar”.
They said that they had been asked to deliver the consignment to the US embassy. The seized equipment included hundreds of magazines of M-16 rifles and 9mm pistols, black military uniforms, bullet-proof jackets and military shoes.
Islamabad police had booked the two arrested men for allegedly transporting weapons into the city. “When we contacted the US Embassy, they refused to own the equipment. Therefore, we had to register an FIR,” a police official said. Later the US embassy contacted senior police officials and claimed the ownership of the equipment. By that time, the FIR had already been registered.
According to the US Embassy, Pakistan Army was duly informed about the equipment’s movement.
“The ISPR was informed about the equipment’s movement,” said the spokesperson for the US embassy, Richard Snelsire. “The equipment was being used by the American trainers in Peshawar for training officials of police and the Frontier Constabulary…After the completion of the project, we had decided to move the equipment to our Embassy in Islamabad,” he added.
Snelsire said the consignment included “only training equipment and no weapons”.
However, the police claimed that they had not been informed about the movement of the consignment.
“The two men booked were later released on bail. However, the seized equipment was still in the custody of police. It will be returned after following proper procedure,” said the Station House Officer of Margalla Police Station, Hussain Lassi. “So far no one has applied for the return of the equipment” he added.
The US embassy’s spokesperson said that he was not aware of the status of the equipment “because of holidays”.
Published in the Express Tribune, June 7th, 2010.
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