Friend in need: US ambassador pays tribute to CID blast victims

USAID for $4 million medical centre at Jinnah hospital announced.

KARACHI:

US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter’s charm offensive continued for the second day on Friday, when he visited Jinnah hospital and a bomb blast site at one of the main investigation offices of the Sindh police.

A suspicously sleepy looking Sindh Inspector General Wajid Ali Durrani arrived at least 20 minutes behind schedule for the 9:30 am programme at the Crime Investigation Department’s headquarters that was blown away in a massive gun and bomb attack in November 2010. The ambassador, who arrived in a convoy of three cars, didn’t step out of his vehicle until the IG arrived.

Munter was accompanied by his wife Dr Marilyn Wyatt and US Consul General William Martin at both events.

A guard of honour by a contingent of police personnel was presented under the marquee at the same spot where the bomb had left a 50-foot wide and 12-foot deep crater. Although the damaged CID offices have been rebuilt, they still need a coat of paint. Munter laid a wreath at a monument that is inscribed with the names of the personnel who lost their lives that day. In his brief remarks to the media, Munter said the purpose of his visit was to honour the sacrifices of the many policemen who have died while protecting the lives of the Pakistani people.

He said the US and Pakistan have a long history of cooperation in the fight against terrorism and that the mission of the American people was to further the cause of peace in the country.

The ambassador and his entourage also met the people who were injured in the deadly attack. Unlike their superiors, who were dressed in suits and ties, all junior officers of the CID wore black waistcoats over their heavily starched white shalwar kameezes and black leather boots. Head constable Fareed Abbasi, who was literally buried under the rubble, said he was glad to have met and been honoured by a “real American”.  Abbasi, like his 14 other colleagues, took months to recover from their  multiple injuries. However, they say they have yet to receive any of the compensation that the government had announced after the attack. Earlier in the day, the ambassador took part in the ground-breaking ceremony for a new project at the Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre, which is being built with the help of USAID at a cost of four million dollars.

Munter said that the medical centre and training facility would focus mainly on health issues affecting the women of Pakistan. “Healthy mothers and children are the cornerstone of a healthy society,” he said. He said that US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton had announced the $4 million package for the hospital in July 2010. The three-storey building is expected to be built within 16 months and is designed to have a one-of-its-kind dedicated unit for the fistula health problem common among women in Pakistan.

Munter voiced hope that the centre would become a tangible symbol for creating a prosperous future of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 28^th,  2011.