PESHAWAR: The United States Consulate in Peshawar confirmed on Monday that it withdrew an invitation to NWFP Assembly Speaker Bakht Jehan Khan to attend US independence day celebrations on July 4 because he allowed the house to offer fateha (funeral prayers) for Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
The speaker called the move "shocking" and "a breach of privilege" and warned he would take up the issue in the next session of the provincial assembly. "I sent a letter to Speaker Bakht Jehan Khan expressing deep shock for allowing fateha for al-Zarqawi, and informing him that I was unable to welcome him to our official reception on July 1," US Consulate Principal Officer Michael Spangler said in a statement. |