ISLAMABAD - The United States
administration's decision to construct a huge
embassy building in Islamabad, which has been
described by Pakistani media as a "super embassy"
rivaling only the US mission in Baghdad, has hit a
serious snag with the filing of a constitutional
petition in the Supreme Court challenging the
construction of the compound in the federal
capital.
The US State Department's plans
to build a massive new embassy in Islamabad by
adding several adjacent properties to the already
sprawling compound with a view to expanding office
space and accommodation for 400 to 500 apartments,
had already created ripples in establishment
circles, amid apprehension that the expansion
project is a part of imperial US designs on the
region.
The current US mission in
Islamabad houses a large military and intelligence
contingent as well as diplomats. This site would
expand by 18.5 hectares under US$1 billion plans
for its buildings
to be knocked down and
reconstructed. The scale of the project means the
site would rival the 42-hectare American Embassy
in Baghdad, which when completed in 2009 at a cost
of $736 million became the biggest US mission
overseas to date.
The Islamabad embassy
expansion project would be mirrored by an
ambitious upgrade and expansion of the Kabul
mission, putting a $2 billion-plus price tag on a
revamped diplomatic presence for the US in
Afghanistan and Pakistan.
However, a
constitutional petition filed this week by
Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Inamul Rahim under
Article 184(3) and challenging the US plans, has
urged the Supreme Court to pass a restraining
order to prevent the Americans from proceeding
further on their "expansionist imperial agenda".
The petitioner has made the Capital
Development Authority (CDA) chairman, the
federation of Pakistan through the secretaries of
Interior, Foreign Affairs and Defense ministries,
and the US Embassy Management Consular through the
Foreign Affairs Ministry respondents in the case.
A retired officer of the army, Rahim
maintains in his plea that the construction of a
huge embassy building as well as underground
bunkers posed a grave threat to the security and
sovereignty of the state.
"The US has
already raised the level of its manpower to such
an extent as if a mini state is being constructed
within the state of Pakistan which should be taken
as a serious threat to the security and
sovereignty of Pakistan," Describing the US move
violates the right of life and liberty of citizens
guaranteed the constitution the petitioner has
further requested the court to set up a high-level
inquiry commission to uncover motives behind the
US embassy expansion.
The attempt to block
the embassy expansion comes amid seriously
strained Pakistan-United States relations.
Islamabad this week defied expectations it
would reopen a key North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) supply route to Afghanistan
closed last year in the wake of a US helicopter
gunship strike that killed 24 Pakistani troops.
A court also sentenced Pakistani doctor
Shakil Afridi to 33 years in prison on Wednesday
for a "treasonous" role in helping the US Central
Intelligence Agency locate and kill al-Qaeda
leader Osama bin Laden last May, angering
influential Washington diplomats - including
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta - who had called
for his release.
Petitioner Rahim has
informed the court that the CDA conveyed on
January 10, 2012 its approval to the US Embassy
for the construction of 16 new buildings with
covered area of 1,734,212.23 square feet (161, 113
square meters). These buildings include huge
structures and many multi-storey buildings.
Building plans approved by the CDA include
basement plus seven-storey new office building;
seven-storey new office annex; single-storey guard
house; three-storey support annex office; basement
plus two-storey residence building; basement plus
ground utility building; two basement plus
four-storey consular annex building; eight-storey
plus Pont house; eight-storey residence building;
another eight-storey residence building;
four-storey recreation building; two basement plus
ground parking building; single-storey guard
house; single-storey another guard house; and
several other facilities.
A US Embassy
spokesman in Islamabad denied that they were
constructing a super embassy. He said the embassy
was constructing a new building as the existing
facility was 30 years old. "And let me make it
clear, there are no secret bunkers being
constructed in the new embassy building as being
reported by the Pakistani media." The spokesman
further denied that anything sinister was going
on. "We have nothing to hide," he said, adding
that it had all been done with the approval of the
CDA.
Well-placed officials in the
Pakistani security establishment say they have
already conveyed their apprehensions over the
embassy expansion project to the concerned
authorities, seeking a revision of the height of
the embassy complex to four storeys instead of
seven.
In a letter written to the CDA's
chairman, a senior official of the Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI) termed the planned building a
"security hazard". Expressing fears that movement
and activities in important buildings - including
the presidency, the prime minister's house and
parliament- could be easily monitored from the
rooftop of a seven-storey complex, the ISI
officials agency has asked the CDA chairman to
explain how it could approve a seven-storey
structure in the diplomatic enclave.
After
receiving the letter, the CDA was reportedly left
in a fix: on one hand, it could not afford to defy
the instructions of the ISI, while on the other it
had no courage to unilaterally revoke and revise
the approved plan of an embassy of a superpower.
However, with the filing of a
constitutional petition with the apex court,
seeking a restraining order against the US Embassy
project, CDA officials may be emboldened to ask US
authorities in Islamabad to stop construction of
the complex until a further decision has been
taken by the court.
Amir Mir is
a senior Pakistani journalist and the author of
several books on the subject of militant Islam and
terrorism, the latest being The Bhutto murder
trail: From Waziristan to GHQ.
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