WASHINGTON, Aug 5: A loose and uncouth remark by an American attorney involved in the trial of suspected Pakistani terrorist Mir Aimal Kansi has inflamed tempers in Pakistan, soured US-Pak ties, and cast a shadow on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief's forthcoming trip to the United States.

Islamabad has demanded an apology for remarks by Robert F. Horan, a Fairfax county prosecutor, accusing him of deeply insulting Pakistanis in an interview televised last fortnight. The matter has now engaged the highest levels after Nawaz Sharief and President Leghari separately denounced the remark.

In an interview to Fox Television Network on June 23, Horan criticised the size of the $2 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Mir Aimal Kansi, who was wanted in a 1993 shooting spree at the CIA. He then went on to make disparaging and gratuitous remarks about people of the region from where Kansi was arrested.

``I am not sure a quarter of a million could have done the same because it really is a very rural, backward area... This is not a high-income area... I am sure the people over there will turn in their mothers for $20,000, let alone $2 million,'' Horan told interviewer Jane Smith.

Kansi was apprehended from Dera Ghazi Khan, a border town in the volatile Balochistan region. DG Khan, as it is known, is incidentally is the home town of President Farooq Leghari.

Horan's remark was widely reported in the Pakistani media and the outrage that erupted was addressed by Nawaz Sharief who termed the interview ``totally uncivilised'' after he returned on Sunday from a trip to Malaysia.``The statement of the lawyer is devoid of human value. It is a matter of great shame for a civilised society,'' Sharief told reporters in Lahore on Sunday.

Soon after, the Pakistan foreign ministry summoned Thomas Simmons, the US ambassador to Islamabad, and demanded an apology from the offending attorney.``The government of Pakistan has conveyed to the US government its deep disappointment at Horan's remarks which are not only in bad taste, but expose his prejudice and ignorance,'' a Pakistan foreign office spokesman said.

``The US State Department has expressed its sincere regrets at the remarks of the Fair Fax Attorney and emphasized that they did not in any way reflect the views of the government or the people of the United States,'' he said, adding, the State Department had advised Horan to retract his remarks and issue a public apology.

Meanwhile, Horan categorically denied in an interview that he disparaged the Pakistani people in any way and said he would write to Nawaz Sharief very soon about the matter. But confronted with the transcript of his remarks, he was hard put to defend himself and said he had ``not meant it that way'' and he ``had not identified any nationals.''

The incident has thrown US-Pak ties into further disarray. The Sharief government was already under scrutiny for the manner in which Kansi was handed over to the US authorities without initiating regular legal procedures. Kansi was captured in Dera Ghazi Khan by FBI agents.

The spat over Horan's slur comes at an awkward time for Islamabad which has been discussing dates for a Nawaz Sharief visit to Washington with the State Department.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.