March 4, 2002	Monday	Zilhaj 19, 1422

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NOWSHERA, March 3: Iranian diplomats blocked the main GT Road in protest following an altercation and fist-fight with traffic police on Saturday.

Police said the incident occurred when the motorway police stopped a car of an Iranian Consul General in Lahore near Ismailkhel, Akora Khattak and tried to challan him for over-speeding. They said that another Iranian diplomat, said to be an attache at the Iranian embassy in Islamabad, who was towing the other car, stopped and entered into a brawl with the cops and refused to take the ticket.

They said the cops radioed the motorway police ahead and local police who stopped the car again near district courts. This, claimed the police, again infuriated the diplomats, who slapped a traffic officer, Yar Muhammad and blocked the road, saying they would not move till the arrival of their consul general.

The diplomats, however, said that no over-speeding was done and that the traffic police misbehaved with them while they were travelling with their families. They said they would lodge a protest with the foreign office.

IGP, NWFP Muhammad Saeed Khan and DIG Motorway Azam Khan later visited the Iranian consulate in Peshawar and apologised for the incident. The IG said that an inquiry had been initiated into the incident and a report would be submitted to the government for necessary action.

The blockade caused problems for commuters who had to wait for over one hour for the road to reopen.