Author: Chidanand Rajghatta
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: December 31, 2000
The United States on Friday warned
Islamabad against runaway terrorist activities directed against India by
organisations based in Pakistan and said the Government of Pakistan had
the responsibility to rein in jehadi outfits that preached and practised
violence.
Senior Administration officials
told The Indian Express that the US government condemned ``in the strongest
terms'' the recent terrorist attacks in Srinagar and New Delhi's Red Fort,
and the threats against the life of Prime Minister A B Vajpayee issued
by the Lashkar-e-Toiba.
``Such attacks and threats do nothing
to advance the resolution of the Kashmir issue and are inconsistent with
recent steps in this direction,'' Bruce Riedel, Special Assistant to President
Clinton and Senior Director at the National Security Council, told The
Indian Express.
Riedel said the US government was
fully supportive of Vajpayee's declaration of ceasefire in Kashmir.
Pakistan's response in holding its fire onthe border was also encouraging,
he said. However, the activities of the terrorist organisations in
Pakistan are ``reprehensible'' and would make it much more difficult to
arrive at a solution, Riedel said.
Administration sources said Washington
had made it clear to Islamabad that the threats made against the Indian
Prime Minister from Pakistani soil were ``unacceptable.'' Since the threats
are being issued from Pakistan, the Government of Pakistan has to take
the responsibility of reigning in the jehadi outfits, the sources added.
The United States' stern warning
to Islamabad comes in the fading days of the Clinton Administration after
it failed to designate the Lashkar-e-Toiba and other outfits as terrorist
organisations despite theirflagrant acts of violence in India. Administrationofficials
said on Friday that the process was stillunder review and it takes a ``fair
amount of time'' toput together a foolproof case.
The officials suggested it could
still happen beforeJanuary 20 -- before the current administration bowedout
-- and even if it did not ``there will becontinuity,'' i.e. the Bush
Administration could quickly nail the process.
However, The Indian Express has
learned that the issue of designating Lashkar-e-Toiba and other jehadi
outfits as terrorist organisations has been the subject of an inter-agency
battle within the Clintonadministration for several months now.
Although there is broad support
-- in the face of incontrovertible evidence -- in the White House and the
State Departmentto go through with the designation, some influentialpolicy
makers have held up the process.
The argument they are putting forth
is based on the plea from the Musharraf regime that such a step would undermine
the current regime in Pakistan and spell further trouble in the country.
