How they hid the American President

Instead of boarding the cavernous plane, Clinton ducked around its nose and headed for two small Gulfstream executive jets parked on the other side, one with regular blue-and-white US Markings and the other unmarked.

Brian Stafford, the director of the US Secret service which is charged with protecting the President, boarded the plane with regular markings while Clinton got on the unmarked plane.

The extraordinary precautions reflect US anxieties about Clinton’s safety in a country which US officials accuse of supporting what they call “terrorist” groups in Afghanistan and where the US embassy and American Center were the target of November 1999 rocket attacks that injured a Pakistani security guard.

The effort to confuse potential attackers continued on Clinton’s arrival in Islamabad, where the blue-and-white aircraft landed in front of the press stands, fooling some observers into believing that the US President had arrived.

A few minutes later, the unmarked jet carrying Clinton landed largely unnoticed, the decoy was moved away and the President’s plane pulled up into its spot.

The White House drove six long black limousines up to the aircraft, three times the usual number, to form a barrier to protect Clinton, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and US National Security Adviser Sandy Berger as they emerged.

The US side was not the only one going to extraordinary lengths to keep Clinton and his entourage safe.

Pakistani security forces lined the road from Chaklala military airport outside Islamabad at about 50-yard intervals and the route the President’s motorcade took was empty of normal traffic.

Residents said that parts of Islamabad were effectively closed to traffic during Clinton’s five-hour visit.

The US and Pakistani forces also went to considerable effort to protect the dozens of journalists and US officials who accompanied the US President to Pakistan, sealing off the hotel where they were based for the brief visit.

“We want to be sure that you understand the continued need for vigilance on the last part of this trip,” the US Secret Service said in a rare note distributed to US reporters as they flew to Islamabad on a C-17 military transport. “Extra security measures will be taken throughout the day,” the note added. “At times these measures may seem to be an inconvenience, but they really are necessary.”