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left-of-center2012

(34,195 posts)
Sat May 12, 2018, 12:19 PM May 2018

Pakistan and U.S. Restrict Diplomats' Travel, Adding New Strain on Ties

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan —

Pakistan on Friday placed travel restrictions on United States diplomats based in the country, the latest in a series of retaliatory measures that threaten to plunge already strained relations to their worst level in years.

The restrictions in Pakistan were imposed on the same day that the United States barred diplomats working at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington from traveling outside of a 25-mile radius around the city without approval.

The United States has long complained that Pakistani police and security officials frequently harass American diplomats and their staff with traffic stops and citations that require considerable time and effort to resolve. Six weeks ago, the State Department threatened to impose a travel restriction on Pakistan’s Washington diplomatic corps if the harassment did not end by Friday.

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In January, the Trump administration announced that it had suspended nearly all of the $1.3 billion in annual security aid given to Pakistan, an announcement that came just three days after President Trump complained on Twitter that Pakistan had “given us nothing but lies & deceit” and accused it of providing “safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan.”

The Trump administration has also sought to strengthen ties with India, Pakistan’s bitter rival.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/11/world/asia/pakistan-us-travel-relations.html

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