American U.N. Worker Kidnapped In Pakistan

Man Who Worked In Refugee Agency Taken, Driver Killed

(CBS/ AP)  Authorities searched for an American U.N. worker kidnapped Monday in southwestern Pakistan in an attack that underscored the security threats in the country as it battles al Qaeda militants.

The government called the abduction a "dastardly terrorist act," but police said it was not clear whether Islamist militants, criminals seeking a ransom payment or members of a regional separatist group were responsible.

Gunmen seized John Solecki, head of the U.N. refugee office in the city of Quetta, as he traveled to work Monday morning, and shot and killed his driver, U.N. and Pakistani officials said.

Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan province, which partly borders Afghanistan. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has worked for three decades in the region helping hundreds of thousands of Afghans fleeing violence in their homeland.

While a violent region, it has largely been spared the al Qaeda and Taliban insurgency wracking much of northwestern Pakistan, where several foreigners have been attacked or kidnapped in recent months.

In August, Lynne Tracy, the top U.S. diplomat in the northwest, narrowly survived an attack on her vehicle in Peshawar by suspected militants. In November, gunmen shot and killed American aid worker Stephen Vance in the same city.

"U.N. workers, including staff, diplomats, relief aides, and blue helmet peacekeepers, have been under fire more in the past few years than ever before - in Gaza, in Kosovo, in Baghdad, in Darfur and now in Pakistan - and the Secretary-General has begun to reevaluate the assignments or to suspend missions, given the higher danger levels of unarmed or lightly armed U.N. personnel," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk from the U.N. Monday.

Senior police officer Khalid Masood said Solecki has worked in Quetta for more than two years. Ron Redmond, a UNHCR spokesman in Geneva, confirmed he is an American citizen.

At the scene of the kidnapping in an upscale neighborhood, a UNHCR Land Cruiser with at least one bullet hole was rammed against a wall.

Soon after the attack, authorities sealed exit routes from the city, officers said. Police also beefed up patrols and security checks along roads leading to Afghanistan, fearing Solecki may be taken there.

Quetta has been mentioned by Afghan officials as a likely hiding place for Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders who are thought to have fled Afghanistan after the U.S. invasion in 2001.

Baluchistan is also the scene of a low-level insurgency driven by nationalist groups wanting more regional autonomy. They are not known to target foreigners.

General crime has also been on the rise in many parts of Pakistan, including kidnappings for ransom. An Iranian diplomat was abducted in Peshawar last year, and other foreigners and Afghans also have been taken.

The United Nations expressed "extreme shock and dismay" at the kidnapping and the killing of the driver.

"We strongly condemn this attack on humanitarian workers in Pakistan who have been doing their utmost to deliver their humanitarian mission," it said in a statement.

It was not clear whether the abduction would impact U.N. work in Pakistan. The bombing of Islamabad's Marriott hotel in September prompted new U.N. rules prohibiting expatriate staff from living with their children in cities including Quetta.

Solecki did not have a police escort while he was traveling, Masood said. "We have learned that he usually did not like to have an escort with him on his way to the office," he said.

[evian_ycnan]

are there any I MEAN ANY POSITIVE NEWS ABOUT THE UNITED NATIONS???

Posted by inDaMiddle at 11:18 PM : Feb 02, 2009

Yes. The UN''s "Special Rapporteur on Torture," Manfred Nowak, in a message recorded on January 20 for broadcast that evening on Germany''s ZDF television, urged the United States to bring charges against former President George W. Bush and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for torture and bad treatment of prisoners held at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay. "Judicially speaking, the United States has a clear obligation" to bring proceedings against Bush and Rumsfeld, said Nowak.

[evian_ycnan]

do we miss bush yet??

Posted by inDaMiddle at 11:42 PM : Feb 03, 2009

Yes. Like a case of the clap.

[indamiddle]

do we miss bush yet??

[fagsnaids]

Sure thing, DILLROD! Pakistan is a nuclear power as well. They may not be able to reach the US, but could easily nuke India or Persian Guld States and irradiate most of the world''''s oil supply.

Should the international community come knocking at your trailer door for an answer then?


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Posted by gce65 at 02:40 AM : Feb 03, 2009
+ report abuse


**************

maybe we have one of those live8 concerts..

[fagsnaids]

I''''m willing to surrender Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfiwitz in exchange to the militants for this one UN worker. How''''s that sound?



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Posted by gce65 at 02:44 AM : Feb 03, 2009
+ report abuse


*******

i bet you would THAT IS WHY THESE TERRORISTS LOVES ALL YOU ANTI-AMERICAN LIBERALS..

do you want to be a suicide bomber?? there is an opening..

[cbs_tom]

"You can''''t have your cake and eat it too".
Posted by ZykraCosmos at 11:42 AM : Feb 02, 2009
Do you really want an organization that polices the world based upon what the majority want? What if the majority is corrupt? This UN military might that you would choose would also be used against the US if the desire be there. Watch for which you hope. It most certaintly can turn around and bite you! I believe that these countries that are corrupt should be delt with through a coalition of countries. They should be conquered if necessary and dissolved of their leadership.

[gce65]

How much power are any of you willing to surrender to the UN?
Posted by cbs_tom at 11:09 AM : Feb 02, 2009
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I''m willing to surrender Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfiwitz in exchange to the militants for this one UN worker. How''s that sound?

[gce65]

Nuke the Pakis out of existence!! They are of no use on this planet.
Posted by surreal64 at 04:49 PM : Feb 02, 2009
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Sure thing, DILLROD! Pakistan is a nuclear power as well. They may not be able to reach the US, but could easily nuke India or Persian Guld States and irradiate most of the world''s oil supply.

Should the international community come knocking at your trailer door for an answer then?

[indamiddle]

are there any I MEAN ANY POSITIVE NEWS ABOUT THE UNITED NATIONS???

something about them NOT GETTING THEIR ARSES KICKED AND BEING TREATED LIKE MORONS...

the rate they are going..and roomfull of 5 year old school children CAN CLOSE DOWN THIS ORGANIZATION

[surreal64]

Nuke the Pakis out of existence!! They are of no use on this planet.

[yongamerica]

Pakistan, while claiming to fight terrorism with the world, has been trying very hard to make peace with the Taliban for almost a decade. As a result, the tendrils of the Taliban have spread from their lawless lands into larger and larger villages and now cities. The Pakistani government has been given numerous wakeup calls and yet it still sleeps.

[exaf74]

American U.N. Worker Kidnapped In Pakistan.

Boo hoo buddy; an american over there is just asking for trouble. Good luck.

[dimebag5151]

Any American who steps foot in any one of these grovels of a country should know well what they are getting into and accept possible death/torture as a very real possibility.

[zykracosmos]

How much power are any of you willing to surrender to the UN?


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Posted by cbs_tom at 11:09 AM : Feb 02, 2009
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LOTS!!! I would much rather have an effective UN military force policing the world''s hot spots than the US taxpayers and military playing the role. It was the US that has kept the UN from having such an effective force, blocking every attempt to empower the UN to provide policing, not just peace-keeping, actions. You can''t have your cake and eat it too. A strong and assertive UN rapid response team, special forces team, and the usual peacekeepers are necessary in a world where Americans make up only 4% of the population. Either empower the UN, or sit back and prepare to peel money out of your wallet for the US to be stuck in places like Darfur, Peshwar, and other stinkholes around the world. We have a security council that can effectively oversee the engagement of any UN forces put into action. It''s long past time for us to use the infrasstructure already in place.

[cbs_tom]

How much power are any of you willing to surrender to the UN?

[thinkharder-]

It''''s hard to imagine a stupider, more incompetent, less effective organization than the UN.


Posted by AlanW10771 at 03:02 AM : Feb 02, 2009

OH...I got one!!! The Bush administration.

[gangesdak]

Islam is an idea we cannot win over. We cannot control Afghanistan, Iraq or Pakistan. If not careful, Afghanistan & Pakistan will be our Vietnam again. Just guard the oil fields in middle east and guard the US enrty points. That is all we have to do for now.

[alanw10771]

Considering the UN spends all its spare time and efforts these days appeasing Muslims, trying to convince the world that Islam is peaceful, and trying to enact laws that forbid saying anything disparaging about Islam, it''s somewhat humorous to see a UN worker kidnapped by the Jihadists. Even if the guy is beheaded and they take video of using his head to play soccer, the UN will simply watch the video and then lament the poor, "misunderstood" Muslims. It''s hard to imagine a stupider, more incompetent, less effective organization than the UN.

[hamiltongrad]

What the heck are we there for ?