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:

Today

• German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who meets Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.

• Krishna Chandra Pant, deputy chairman of India's government planning commission, who addresses the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

• Farid Ghadry, president of the Reform Party of Syria, who holds a 2 p.m. news conference at the National Press Club to discuss the political opposition in Syria.

• British barrister Cherie Booth and Conor Gearty of the London School of Economics. They join a Georgetown University discussion on human rights and international law.

• Gustavo Gorriti of Peru's Legal Defense Institute and Cesar Montufar of the Andean Center for International Studies in Ecuador. They address the Inter-American Dialogue.

Tomorrow

• Former Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso and former Bolivian President Jorge Quiroga, who address the Inter-American Dialogue.

• Mai Yamani of London's Royal Institute of International Affairs, who participates in a forum on Saudi Arabia sponsored by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

• Maulen Ashimbayev, director of the Kazakh Institute for Strategic Studies, who addresses the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute of Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies.

Wednesday

• Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who delivers the Czech and Slovak Freedom Lecture.

• Ervin Laszlo, president of the European-based Club of Budapest, who speaks at the University of Maryland to announce the opening of a North American headquarters of the U.N.-linked think tank.

Thursday

• Liechtenstein Foreign Minister Ernst Walch, who opens an exhibition of paintings by Liechtenstein artist Elisabeth Buchel.

• Ilinka Mitreva, foreign minister of Macedonia, Luan Hajdaraga, acting foreign minister of Albania, and Ivan Simonovic, deputy foreign minister of Croatia. They address the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

• Irana Krasovskaya, wife of Belarus leader Anatoly Krasovsky. She will address Radio Free Europe.

• Call Embassy Row at 202/636-3297, fax 202/832-7278 or e-mail jmorrison @washingtontimes.com.