U.S. TRUCKLES TO PAKISTAN DICTATOR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100170102-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 28, 2011
• Sequence Number: 102
• Publication Date: May 1, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100170102-3
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THE WASHINGTON POST
1 May 1980
wOUX ANDERSON
U.S. Tnu'kles to Pakistan Dictator
Some frightening outrages were
aimed at. American women trapped
in the embassy compound when Pa-
kistani mobs sacked the U.S. em-
bassy in [slamahad, Pakistan. last
November. The mobs were respond-
ing to a false Iranian charge that the
had en. ineerec the terrorist at-
tack on tri a sacred mosque at Mecca.
But the Caarter administration,
truckling to Pakistani dictator Mo-
hammed Zia al-Iiaq - whose police
stood by without interfering, and
whose army troops were hours late
coming to the rescue - has virtually
ignored the victims and clamped a
Shameful lid of silence on their ac-
counts of the nightmare.
The women were spat and- urin-
ated on, punched, roughed up,
threatened and molested, according
to signed depositions I have obtained
from the victims. Yet the State De-
partment has not even debriefed all
of the women to get their accounts.
Instead, the department's genteel
spokesman, Hodding Carter III, ex-
tended public thanks to Gen. Zia for
this belated help in saving the Amer-
icans from the hysterical mob. The
victims, meanwhile, were advised
not to talk about their ordeal, lest
the Pakistani president's feathers be
ruffled.
One focal point of the Islamabad
mob's attack was the American Club,
where 16 Americans, including eight
women and a 5-year-old girl, were
gathered for a fashion show. They
were trapped inside when the mob
overran the embassy compound, and
the building was set afire.
The Americans fled out a bark
door and took refuge in a depression
in the ground. There they remained,
terrorized by thousands of scream-
ing. hostile Pakistanis for the nett
two hours, sources told my reporters
Indy Badhwar and Lucette Lagnado.
Sharon Jones, wife of the embassy
air attache. described an attack by a
Pakistani woman who pounced on
her: "She grabbed me, insulted me,
spit in my face and tore my clothes."
The wife of another diplomat said
it was "a terrifying experience," ad-
ding: "All of us felt really scared.
The mob would pinch us, they would
punch us, but there was little one
could do."
Arlene Erickson. an embassy
secretary who remained in Islama-
had after the evacuation, said she
had been "bruised enough to last me
the rest of my life."
"Needless to say, I was scared to
death," said the deposition of
Audrey Williamson, wife of an
American banker in Islamabad.
"They verbally abused us and
shouted anti-American slogans. Oc-
casionally, they spat at us ... Some
of the mob actually urinated on us,
which was most disgusting."
Siraj Patel, the Pakistani manager
of the club, stayed with the Ameri-
cans throughout the ordeal and did
his best to protect them from the
raging mob. In a signed statement,
he said the police not only didn't
help the group, but actually joined
in harassing the women.
In his account, Patel states that
Williamson had to hit. one of the H
policemen whor was "continually a
mauling tier" Jones also claimed'
that on several occasions the police-
en molested her. I
When the Americans were finally
rescued and taken to the airport for
evacuation home. State Department
officials told them they should not
talk about the incident. "We were
told to piease keep in mind that
there were still people in Islama-
bad," said Jones, who added that
U.S. officials later impressed on
them the importance of U.S -Paki.
Thomas Putcher. an employe of
the Agency for International Devel-
opment, was badly beaten, robbed of
all his possessions, and held hostage
for several hours. He was not even
met by a State Department official
when he arrived in the United
States. His wife and parents had to
spend all day at the State Depart-
ment just to find out what flight he
was on.
More than six months have passed,
but the State Department has yet to
release a report on the embassy at-
tack. Rep. Lester Wolff (D-N.Y.) will
hold hearings on the matter, to de-
termine whether there was a cover-
up.
Footnote: A State Department
spokesman confirmed that a report
on the Islamabad outrage has not
been completed. -He acknowledged
that not all the victims had been
debriefed, but said there would
"probably" be more interviews
sometime in the future.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/28: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100170102-3