Pakistan reports about harassment of US diplomats may have more to do with domestic politics.

Parts of the Pakistani military and intelligence services are mounting what American officials here describe as a campaign to harass American diplomats, fraying relations at a critical moment when the Obama administration is demanding more help to fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

The campaign includes the refusal to extend or approve visas for more than 100 American officials and the frequent searches of American diplomatic vehicles in major cities, said an American official briefed on the cases.

As I understand it from reading English-language Pakistani media, this may be less about deliberate harassment and more about the wild conspiracy theories that American agents are actually responsible for some of the Taliban suicide attacks that have recently occurred. The vehicle searches are alluded to as proof that there are ‘American/Blackwater agents’ swarming everywhere, and that Zardari’s government keeps intervening to let the bad guys get away, which feeds into the “Zardari is an agent of the West” rumor/smear.