Karachi: A gunman in Pakistan opened fire
on a car carrying Qatar`s consul and two other Gulf diplomats
in an apparent robbery attempt, but no injuries were reported,
Qatar`s state-run news agency said.
Pakistani police confirmed an attempted robbery on a
Qatari mission vehicle in the southern city of Karachi but
gave conflicting accounts on whether any diplomats were
directly targeted.
The Qatar News Agency said the assailant tried to open
the car door yesterday, then fired shots at the vehicle from a
pistol. The Qatari official was accompanied by Oman`s consul
and the deputy consul for Kuwait, but no one was injured, the
agency said.
Fayyaz Leghri, the top police official in Sindh
province, said armed robbers went after an escort vehicle in
the Qatari consul`s convoy. But the consul himself was not
directly targeted, said Leghri, who did not say if shots were
fired or if any other diplomats were in other vehicles in the
convoy.
However, another senior Pakistani police official said
two armed men on a motorcycle held up a van carrying the
consul. A police guard in the vehicle gave them some money and
a cell phone.
As the robbers sped away, one fired a bullet at the
van, hitting it from behind, said the official, who spoke on
condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the
situation.
He said other diplomats were believed to be in the
van, but he did not know who.
Karachi is Pakistan`s largest city with 18 million
people, and street robberies are routine.
Bureau Report
