British Ambassador to Pakistan Adam Thomson accused Islamabad of being “world leaders in the visa fraud business” during a press conference Friday the London Olympics.
He told reporters in Islamabad that British officials back home, “weeded out, I think, 4,000 forged documents or false passports.”
“You are world leaders in the visa fraud business which is why we have to check very scrupulously every single application, every single passport, every single document,” Thomson said.
Pakistani television stations, including the most watched GEO television, have been running Thompson’s comments all day. It has created a storm of controversy in the country.
The issue was first revealed in the British newspaper The Sun, which investigated passport officials and travel agents in Lahore who were selling the false documents, according to reports.
Pakistani officials say they will sue for defamation of character, according to Pakistani press reports.
Sara A. Carter is The Washington Examiner’s national security correspondent. She can be reached at [email protected].
