Peshawar: Peshawar-based US Consul
General Elizabeth Rood on Friday left Pakistan due to reported
threats from Taliban militants in the country’s northwest,
sources said.
Rood had reportedly received a threat to her life
and was "feeling unsafe", sources said.
Her sudden departure took diplomatic and political
circles by surprise.
A brief statement issued by the US embassy in
Islamabad said Rood "has departed Pakistan" and that Constance
Arvis would be the Acting Consul General.
The statement did not give any reasons for Rood`s
departure.
Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Information Minister of
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, contended that Rood had returned
to the US for "personal reasons".
"It is incorrect to speculate that the US Consul
General had received threats from militants? he said.
Rood was "satisfied in Peshawar and had appreciated
the foolproof security extended by our government to her on
several occasions", Hussain said.
Rood, who had assumed the post in August, recently
made a farewell call on Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti
and discussed matters of mutual interest, officials said.
PTI
