22 March 2002

U.S. Orders Departure of Non-Emergency Staff, Dependents from Pakistan

The U.S. Department of State implemented an ordered departure of all non-emergency personnel and all dependents from the U.S. Embassy and consulates in Pakistan, State Department Deputy Spokesman Phil Reeker said March 22.

Speaking at the State Department regular noontime briefing, Reeker said that the action came "after a careful review of our security posture in Pakistan" in light of the March 17 terrorist attack on an Islamabad church.

Reeker said the action does not indicate "any lack of confidence in Pakistan's ability to protect Americans."

"We really appreciate the efforts of President Musharraf and his government. We believe that the war against terrorism in Pakistan is far from over and that we will be able to carry it on with greater focus if our dependents are not present at US facilities there," said Reeker.

The consulates in Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi will remain open for American citizen services, and the embassy in Islamabad will remain open for all services, including visa services, Reeker said. Due to the national holiday in Pakistan March 25, all consulates and the embassy will be closed that day.

Following is an excerpt from the March 22 State Department briefing:

Question: Okay. All right, number two, you have closed your Embassy and consulates in Pakistan to the public. The announcement of that doesn't make any mention of any particular new threat; it just refers to "in light of what happened last Sunday."

Mr. Reeker: Yes.

Question: Is there -- is that all there is to it?

Mr. Reeker: Let me talk about Pakistan and our diplomatic presence there. As you alluded, Matt, and our announcement of that stated, in light of the tragic events on Sunday, March 17, and the fact that there is a holiday on Monday, the US Embassy and our consulates in Pakistan made the decision to be closed to the public beginning today, March 22, through March 25. The normal workweek in Pakistan is as ours, Monday through Friday, and then there is a Pakistani holiday on Monday.

The American community was informed of this, again, through the local Warden System there. Once again, as with Bosnia or any of our embassies, Americans requiring emergency services should contact the Embassy or the nearest consulate by telephone. And they are expected to reopen to the public on March the 26th, after that holiday there.

You will recall that on March 18th, after Sunday's terrorist attack on the Christian church in Islamabad that resulted in the death of two of our Embassy community, the Department authorized departure of eligible family members of Embassy employees. After a careful review of our security posture in Pakistan, the Department has decided to move to an ordered departure of all dependents and non-emergency personnel at our Embassy in Islamabad and our consulates in Pakistan. The Embassy will identify non-emergency personnel on a case-by-case basis. The consulates in Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi will remain open for American citizen services. The Embassy in Islamabad will remain open for all services, including visa services.

And so we once again would remind Americans, as we have in our Consular Information Sheets, our Travel Warnings, that they should maintain a strong security posture, be aware of their surroundings, and avoid crowds and demonstrations, keep a low profile.

Question: Can I ask you -- can I just ask you to repeat that? "After a careful review of" what? I just didn't catch it, I'm sorry.

Mr. Reeker: Just didn't catch it? Okay. After a careful review of our security posture in Pakistan --

Question: But are there any new reasons for this? Any new threats?

Mr. Reeker: I don't think there is anything specific that I could point to at this point. We reviewed our security posture there. As Matt noted and I discussed, the Embassy is closed today following the tragedy of the previous week, and then we have also gone to this ordered departure so that we will be identifying non-emergency personnel and dependents, and they will then make arrangements for departure of those people expeditiously. However, our Embassy and consulates will remain open.

Secretary Powell spoke with President Musharraf this afternoon from Monterrey, and certainly made clear that this decision doesn't reflect any lack of confidence in Pakistan's ability to protect Americans. We really appreciate the efforts of President Musharraf and his government. We believe that the war against terrorism in Pakistan is far from over and that we will be able to carry it on with greater focus if our dependents are not present at US facilities there. Pakistan itself has suffered from terrorism and understands this, and we will continue to work closely with the Pakistani law enforcement officials.

Question: Do you know how many people this might affect?

Mr. Reeker: I don't have a number for you.

Question: What is the time frame for (inaudible) is it? Is it something that --

Mr. Reeker: Usually we will look at this, identify non-emergency personnel on a case-by-case basis, and will make arrangements for departure expeditiously. But I am not going to try to do any specific --

Question: Are they on a transport or would you expect them to leave commercially?

Mr. Reeker: I don't know. It is that kind of detail I am not going to provide.

Question: Do you know how these facilities rank so far as security? I remember the Secretary testifying a while ago about a certain percentage have reached a certain point. What I'm driving at is I can think of at least two reasons to do this. One is because there are new threats or new suspicions or that an embassy and its facilities someplace else might be adequate but, in this case, maybe for safety's sake, send the folks home.

Mr. Reeker: I don't think that is a specific delineation I can make for you, Barry. We have to make these judgments based on a broad variety of information and views. In this case, as I indicated, we think that we will be able to carry on our work in Pakistan at our Embassy in Islamabad and at our posts, all of which, as I said, will remain open. We will be able to do that with a greater focus if our dependents are not present at our facilities there. That is why we have moved to this step. We have evaluated our security. We work closely with the Pakistanis on our security, and we decided that we will go to this move for the time being and continue to review our security posture on a regular basis and let you know if there are any other changes in that.

Question: Did you say this was open-ended? I can't recall.

Mr. Reeker: That is the way ordered departures work. They last for a certain time and then they are reviewed and evaluated.

Question: Is this the same type of -- what was ordered last September when the dependents

-- some of them left? Was that an ordered departure as well?

Mr. Reeker: I think that was what we call an authorized departure.

Question: The difference being?

Mr. Reeker: An authorized departure means we authorize the voluntary departure of categories of personnel or dependents. In this case, what we have determined to go to is now what we call an ordered departure of all dependents and non-emergency personnel at our Embassy and our consulates. So they will remain open, they will remain staffed by personnel, but we are ordering departure of dependents and certain non-emergency personnel.

Question: But the authorized departure occurred last September and then was, in effect, lifted in January?

Mr. Reeker: I don't remember the precise dates. We could certainly pull those up for you. That did occur. Some people left post under that authorized departure, the voluntary action, then returned. Then following Sunday's incident, you will recall that we issued a Travel Warning that advised Americans to defer travel to Pakistan and that those that remained in Pakistan should exercise maximum caution, and we had an authorized -- again, authorized departure at that time for eligible family members and Embassy personnel.

And then the decision that we have reached today is to go to the next level in our bureaucratic terms; that is, what we call ordered departure for family members, dependent family members and certain -- what we refer to as non-emergency personnel.

Question: Are their ways paid for, their travel? Is their travel paid for by the government?

Mr. Reeker: Yes, that is why this is called ordered departure.

Question: That is part of the definition.

Question: In instances where there is this type of departure, does that mean that these embassy staff, whether it be a consulate or an embassy, main urban centers when they are departing, does that mean they'll go to a neighboring country and continue work via telephone, Internet or whatever in the country that they have been assigned? Or is it just a full-scale --

Mr. Reeker: This is what we call an ordered departure from Pakistan, our posts in Pakistan, so those leaving would not remain in Pakistan.

Question: Well, obviously --

Mr. Reeker: I don't have information on what --

Question: In other words, they're not coming clear back to the States? They're just being --

Mr. Reeker: I would imagine that most would do that, but each one we can look at. But I am not going to be describing for you what individual members of our embassy community do under this program.