The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Peshawar

Gunmen kidnapped an Iranian diplomat in northwestern Pakistan's Peshawar on Thursday, officials said, soon after a U.S. aid worker was killed in a city hit hard by an Islamist insurgency spreading from Afghanistan.

The diplomat's driver was killed in the attack.

Suspicion for the attack, a day after the U.S. aid worker was killed, will inevitably fall on the Taliban and affiliated Sunni Muslim militant groups such as al Qaeda, who hate Shi'ite Muslims and predominantly Shi'ite Iran almost as much as the West.

Criminal gangs using religion as a cover are also active in the area. Spiralling violence has raised fears that nuclear-armed Pakistan could slide into chaos unless the 7-month-old civilian government and army can throttle the militant threat.

Pakistan's support is seen as vital to the defeat of al Qaeda globally and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Peshawar is the last city on the road to the Khyber Pass, the main land route to Afghanistan, and has borne the brunt of an Islamist insurgency spreading from neighboring tribal lands.