Pakistan closes embassy in Afghanistan in protest at mob rampage

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http://www.afgha.com/?af=article&sid=34989

Yahoo Asia
July 8, 2003

KABUL (AFP) - Islamabad has closed its embassy in Afghanistan in protest after a 500-strong mob demonstrating against alleged border incursions by Pakistani troops attacked and ransacked the premises, ambassador Rustam Shah Mohmmand said.

"I have closed the mission unless the Afghan government compensates, number one; unless the Afghan government apologises, number two; unless the Afghan government gives tangible concrete guarantees for the protection of the mission in the future, the mission will remain closed," he told reporters standing amid smashed glass in the embassy in the upmarket Wazir Akbar Khan district of north Kabul.

In Islamabad, the Pakistani foreign ministry summoned the Afghan charge d'affaires and lodged a strong protest against the attack.

Islamabad told Kabul's representative that Afghan authorities "were in a position to prevent the attack", the ministry said in a statement.

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