ISLAMABAD Oct 13: Two weeks after sealing of a US embassy warehouse in I-9 Industrial Area, which were allegedly called ‘bunkers’ by the media, interior minister Rehman Malik on Thursday said diplomatic activities were being regulated as part of efforts to ensure peace in the federal capital.

Referring to media reports regarding building a bunker by the US embassy in the federal capital, the minister told media persons outside the parliament, “No one would be allowed to build bunkers.”

He said that as a result of strict security measures taken in the federal capital, some major terrorism plots were foiled besides recovering large quantity of ammunition at Chatta Bakhtawar.

He said the terrorists wanted to target certain places in the Red Zone and headquarters of an elite security agency, adding the rehearsal spots of these terrorist were also located. Replying to a question, he said prayer leaders in mosques of the federal capital were government servants and they would be provided security, if needed.

Local authorities on September 30 sealed a ‘warehouse’ of the US Embassy in I-9 Industrial Area for building it without prior approval of the civic agency.

The US Embassy’s spokesman Mark Stroh had said it was a warehouse of the US embassy which was established few months ago for providing storage facility. He said the warehouse was established to store some furniture and other goods of the embassy.

It has been learnt that the goods and sealed boxes recovered from the warehouse were still in police custody. And civic authorities had changed the status of three plots of US Embassy’s warehouse blocking the way for the embassy to run the outlet there anymore.

However, the embassy’s spokesman was of the view that according to diplomatic norms goods inside it could not be confiscated by the local authorities. Three industrial plots (281, 281 and 283) were allotted to a person Mehboob Elahi for establishing a beverage factory but he got changed their trade from beverage factory to a warehouse and sublet it to the US embassy few months ago.

On the other hand an official of the CDA’s enforcement directorate, which had sealed the warehouse, told Dawn that the warehouse was still sealed and security staff of the CDA had been deployed there.

The US embassy already rejected an impression that the warehouse was being used for any covert mission by the Americans.The US Embassy’s warehouse was sealed in Islamabad amid Pak-US standoff following accusation from the US that Pakistan and its military establishment were patronizing Haqqani network (subsidiary of Al Qaeda) in Afghanistan.

Source in the CDA said that during the sealing operation they saw huge boxes in the warehouse and some of them were taken away by the US nationals present there.