THE TELEGRAPH: Westerners and foreign companies were considering their future in Pakistan yesterday after the country suffered its most devastating terrorist strike since the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.
Expatriates said they saw the attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad as a watershed moment with its deliberate targeting of a local landmark where diplomats, politicians and the middle classes gather for business meetings, or to exercise at its gymnasium and dine out.
It came after a string of suicide bombings across the country had already forced the cancellation of an international cricket tournament.
Many who had dismissed these smaller attacks are now considering leaving. "I'll be speaking to my boss tomorrow," said a Briton who has worked in Islamabad for a Pakistani firm for several years and did not want to be named.
There are currently 150 British staff working for the High Commission in the Pakistan capital, making it one of the largest in the world.
The mission – two of whose staff were injured in the attack – is still expected to function as normal. However, employees are being relocated within a safe diplomatic enclave as part of long-term plan initiated since Pakistan's security began to deteriorate significantly last year. Islamabad Suicide Bombing: Westerners Fear for Their Future in Pakistan >>> By Isambard Wilkinson | September 22, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH:
Pakistan Leaders Escaped Marriott Bomb at Last Minute: Pakistan's president and prime minister were scheduled to eat at the Islamabad Marriott the night it was bombed, but changed plans at the last minute, a top official has said. >>> By Isambard Wilkinson in Islamabad | September 22, 2008
NZZ Online:
Attentat auf Marriott-Hotel galt dem Präsidenten: Pakistan Staatsspitze beinahe getroffen >>> | 22. September 2008
LE FIGARO:
Al-Qaida défie l'Occident en frappant au Pakistan >>> Marie-France Calle à New Delhi | 22.09.2008
DIE PRESSE:
Anschlag in Pakistan – ein Land am Abgrund: Mit ihrem Anschlag auf das Marriott-Hotel in Islamabad wollten Fanatiker Pakistan ins Herz treffen. Sie sehen die Zeit gekommen, den Atomstaat zu kippen. Doch die Stimmung könnte sich nun gegen sie wenden.
DELHI/ISLAMABAD. Es sind Bilder wie aus einem Kriegsgebiet: Am Tag nach dem verheerenden Selbstmordattentat auf das Marriott-Hotel in Islamabad stießen Rettungskräfte in den verkohlten Trümmern immer noch auf Leichen. Ein zehn Meter tiefer Bombenkrater klaffte vor den rauchenden Ruinen des US-Luxus-Hotels.
Die Terroristen wollten den pakistanischen Staat mitten ins Herz treffen. Das Inferno spielte sich nahe dem Machtzentrum des Landes ab, wo sich der Sitz des Präsidenten, das Parlament und das Oberste Gericht befinden. Nun erwägen mehrere Botschaften, die Familien ihrer Mitarbeiter aus Pakistan abzuziehen. Das Land würde damit als genauso gefährlich eingestuft wie Afghanistan und der Irak. >>> Von Sascha Zastiral | 21. September 2008
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