Pakistani authorities are trying to solve the riddle of US Marines and their mysterious steel cases, which were shifted to Islamabad's Marriott Hotel four days before it was reduced to ashes by the worst ever terrorist attack in the history of the federal capital on Sept. 20, said a news report. These authorities want to ascertain if it was a routine exercise or part of some special mission that does not have the approval of the Government of Pakistan, the report published in English language daily The News said. The US embassy insists the activity witnessed was a team of support personnel that often and routinely precede and/or accompany certain US officials. An official said that the Pakistani authorities have been told that mysterious activity of the US Marines took place around 12:00 midnight on 16 September. Already the government has got the information that several rooms on the fourth floor of the Marriott were in permanent use of the US authorities. Three of these rooms were said to be inter-connected and contained some intelligence equipment and other material allegedly used for espionage, the report said. Marriott Hotel owner Sadruddin Hashwani denied that the Americans had any such presence in the hotel and said that like any such hotel in the world his guests included people of different nationalities. “Why focus on the Americans unnecessarily,” he wondered and refuted that the US embassy had permanently hired several rooms in his hotel. US embassy Islamabad spokesperson Lou Fintor, however, when asked if the embassy had hired several rooms in the Marriott Hotel for years, said in his written reply that the embassy has been a frequent customer of the Marriott Hotel for many years. On any given day, he said, there were employees of the American embassy and official American visitors staying at the hotel. “There is nothing unusual, secretive or ‘mysterious' about this,” he said. When asked if three of these permanently hired rooms were interconnected, Fintor said, “for our frequent visiting delegations, the embassy often rented adjoining rooms — as we often do in other hotels in Pakistan and in the world.” Responding to unconfirmed reports that the US-rented rooms in the Marriott Hotel were being used by the CIA for espionage purposes, he said, “Unfortunately, far too many things have been ‘said' that have absolutely no basis in fact. There is no truth whatsoever in allegations that covert activity was taking place on the part of the United States government.” The spokesman said that these allegations are inaccurate, irresponsible, baseless and completely without any foundation whatsoever. About the Marines and the steel cases which were reported to have been shifted to the hotel between the night of 16 and 17 Sept. and whether these Marines and the suitcases were in the hotel on the day of the blast or evacuated before, the US embassy spokesman said, “A team of support personnel often and routinely precede and/or accompany certain US government officials. They often carry communication and office equipment required to support large delegations, such as high-level administration officials and members of the US Congress.” He added that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would travel with communications equipment. “It is quite possible that some saw this communications equipment moved into the hotel. This equipment would leave with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. If the equipment was transported in full public view then obviously there was no attempt made to conceal its movement.” __
