Embassy Row

U.S. warns Pakistan

The U.S. ambassador to Pakistan is alarmed by the rise of outlawed Islamic terrorist groups that are operating openly under new names, often with the same leaders.

“The groups pose a serious threat to Pakistan, to the region and to the United States,” Ambassador Nancy Powell said in a recent speech before the Karachi Council on Foreign Relations.

She noted that Hafiz Saeed, founder of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, is now addressing rallies across the country as the leader of a new group, Jamaatul Dawa. He is up to his old habits of urging holy war against Indian forces in the disputed Kashmir region.

Jaish-e-Mohammad, one of the groups blamed for the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament, has been renamed Jamaat-ul Furqan, she said. Another banned group, Tehreek-i-Jafria, is now operating as Tehreek Islami.

The ambassador urged Pakistan, a key U.S. ally in the war on terrorism, to “enhance” its efforts to stop these groups from infiltrating into the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir.

Diplomatic compound

The United States is renovating a former military hospital in Frankfurt, Germany, to turn it into the largest American diplomatic compound in a foreign country.

“Frankfurt will become even more key to our ability to support a joint ffuture that both Germany and the United States work toward now and rely on to be there in the decades to come,” Ambassador Daniel Coats said at a ground-breaking ceremony last week.

The $63-million renovation will accommodate the U.S. consulate, now housed in six buildings throughout the city, and other agencies such as the FBI and Internal Revenue Service offices.

Diplomatic traffic

Foreign visitors in Washington this week include:

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