PAKISTANI POLICE STAGE ARMS RAID ON US-CONTRACTED SECURITY COMPANY

       Pakistani police raided a local security firm that helps protect the US embassy yesterday, seizing dozens of allegedly unlicenced weapons at a time when unusually intense media scrutiny of America's use of private contractors has deepened anti-US sentiment.
       Two employees of the Inter-Risk company were arrested during the raids in Islamabad, police official Rana Akram said. Reporters were shown the disputed weapons -61 assault rifles and nine pistols. Mr Akram said police were seeking the firm's owner.
       US embassy spokesman Rick Snelsire said the US contract with Inter-Risk took effect at the start of 2009. It is believed to be the first contract the firm has signed with the US, said Mr Snelsire.
       "Our understanding is they obtained licences with whatever they brought into the country to meet the contractual needs," he said."We told the government that we had a contract with Inter-Risk,that Inter-Risk would be providing security at the embassy and our consulates."
       Mr Akram said he had no idea about any US links to Inter-Risk, but the company was recently mentioned in local media reports that have been trying to establish the types of private security firms American diplomats use in Pakistan.
       In particular, Pakistani reporters, antiUS bloggers and others have suggested the US is using the American firm formerly known as Blackwater - a claim that chills many Pakistanis because of the company's alleged involvement in killings of Iraqi civilians.
       The US embassy denies it uses Blackwater - now known as Xe Services - in Pakistan.
       Scandals involving US contractors have occurred elsewhere in the region.
       In Washington on Friday, the Commission on Wartime Contracting heard testimony about another contractor ArmorGroup North America - involving alleged illegal and immoral conduct by its guards at the US embassy in Afghanistan.
       The Iraqi government refused to grant Xe Services an operating licence earlier this year amid continued outrage over a 2007 lethal firefight involving some of its employees in Baghdad, although the State Department has temporarily extended a contract with an Xe subsidiary to protect US diplomats in Iraq.
       Many of the reports in Pakistan have been fuelled by US plans to expand its embassy space and staff. Among the other rumours the US denies: that 1,000 US marines will land in the capital, and that Americans will set up a Guantanamostyle prison.
       The US says it needs to add hundreds more staff to allow it to disburse billions of dollars in additional aid to Pakistan.
       Legislation making its way through Congress will triple non-military aid to Pakistan - one version would provide $1.5 billion (50.5 billion baht) a year over five years in humanitarian and economic aid. The goal is to improve education and other areas, lessening the allure of extremism.
       The US considers stability in Pakistan critical to helping the faltering war effort in neighbouring Afghanistan, and has pressed Pakistan to crack down on extremism on its soil.