Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the Emir of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) party, has said that the personnel of the U.S. security firm XE, formerly Blackwater, outnumber policemen in Islamabad, according to an Urdu-language newspaper.
There are 7,000 cops in the Pakistani capital while the number of the XE personnel is 9,000, the Pakistani cleric said, according to a report in the Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Express.
“If the Taliban are committing crimes in Pakistan, the U.S. company is also involved in crimes. Americans cannot be allowed to roam freely in Pakistan,” Rehman stated. Rehman’s JUI-F is part of the governing coalition in Islamabad.
According to another report in the Pashtu-language newspaper Wrazpanra Wahdat, Blackwater has closed its offices in Peshawar after the provincial legislative assembly passed a resolution against the company.
There were an estimated 15 to 17 Blackwater personnel in Peshawar who were based out of the posh University Town on Old Bara Road. These individuals have now been shifted to an undisclosed location, the report added.
The legislative assembly of the North West Frontier Province recently passed a resolution, expressing grave concern about the presence of XE in Peshawar.
Source: Roznama Express, Pakistan, February 8, 2010; Wrazpanra Wahdat, Pakistan, February 8, 2010
