Islamabad, Jan. 19: The Pakistan President, Mr Asif Ali Zardari, always the key target for the terrorists, is planning to hire security guards from the United States, a Pakistani media report said.
“In the backdrop of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer’s murder by his own police guard, a proposal is under consideration that will bring in special security guards from the United States for President Asif Ali Zardari,” a Pakistani newspaper reported quoting highly-placed sources.
The report in The Express Tribune said that a proposal is also under consideration to depute foreign security guards for other VVIPs including the Prime Minister, Mr Yousaf Raza Gilani.
Taseer was killed in the heart of Islamabad earlier this month by his own security guard who surrendered after assassinating him for allegedly “committing blasphemy.”
“The proposals come as a part of the government’s decision to review security arrangements of important personalities following the shocking assassination of Salman Taseer, which validated fears that religious extremism had penetrated the ranks of security forces in Pakistan,” the paper wrote. “An overhaul in the present security system has been recommended as a requirement by the authorities for the safety and well-being of the VVIPs,” it said.
“No proposal whatsoever is under consideration to employ or seek foreign guards for the security of the President,” Mr Zardari’s spokesman, Mr Farhatullah Babar, said on Wednesday.