ISLAMABAD: Hours after North Korea accused Islamabad Police of breaking the Vienna Convention following a raid on the country’s embassy in the federal capital on March 7, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad on Thursday said that Islamabad has “apologized” for the incident that had occurred due to a “misunderstanding”.
“We have apologized [to the North Korean mission, the incident had] happened out of misunderstanding,” the interior minister said in a press conference in Islamabad.
the correspondent said that the embassy had stated in a letter to the Foreign Office and Islamabad’s IGP that police entered the mission’s premises from the backdoor at approximately 5 pm on March 7 and harassed its workers.
The mission staff reminded them that the embassy was exercising the inviolable sovereign territory of DPR Korea and asked them to immediately stop this brutal act against the embassy, the letter read.
However, the letter said that the policemen searched the storeroom in the backyard on the pretense of looking for something and threatened the mission staff with guns who tried to stop them.
The letter also stated that the policemen damaged the embassy’s property.
In response, the Foreign Office spokesperson said the Islamabad Police had been informed that they did not have the authority to enter the embassy premises without permission.
“They have also been informed that they cannot perform such a raid next time without having clearance from the Foreign Office,” the spokesperson said.
In recent days, the Islamabad Police have been raiding different spots in the Federal Capital without prior permission from relevant authorities.
The Islamabad Police had admitted that officers had entered the North Korean embassy and apologized for the violation of the convention.
According to the Islamabad Police spokesperson, the law enforcement personnel who broke the law will face serious punishment.
“We apologize for entering the embassy,” the spokesperson added. He added that the Shalimar Police had raided the North Korean Embassy after receiving reports of a large amount of liquor on the premises.
