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Pakistan To India: Watch Your Step
* India Blames Pakistan-Based Islamic Group For Parliament Bloodbath
NEW DELHI, Dec. 14, 2001
AP
(CBS) India said it has evidence that a Pakistan-based Islamic militant
group was to blame for the suicide attack on Parliament that claimed 12
lives.
Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh said Friday that India issued a formal
complaint to the Pakistan High Commission claiming it has "technical
evidence" that the attack on Parliament was the work of the Pakistan-based
Lashkar-e-Tayyaba militants.
The Lashkar-e-Taiba guerrillas denied responsibility.
As tension ran high between the nuclear-armed arch enemies, Pakistan warned
India against any "misadventure" in retaliation.
Gen. Rashid Qureshi said during a discussion on state television. Pakistan
would take a "strong action" against any border or airspace violation, he
added.
Five gunmen armed with AK-47s and explosives stormed the red sandstone
complex in a suicide attack Thursday, killing six security force personnel
and a gardener.
Singh said the complaint, given to Pakistan High Commissioner Ashraf
Jahangir Qazi by Indian Foreign Secretary Chokila Iyer, demanded that
Pakistan halt the activities of two Pakistan-based Islamic militant groups,
Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.
The demand also called on Islamabad to arrest the leaders of the militant
groups and freeze their financial assets.
"I wish to emphasize that these demands are in accordance with necessary
international obligations and commitments in countering terrorism," Singh
said.
"We have made a demarche that India has technical evidence that yesterday's
terrorist attack on Parliament House was not just against the symbol of
Indian democracy and the sovereignty of the Indian people, that it was the
handiwork of a terrorist organization based in Pakistan, the
Lashkar-e-Tayyaba," Singh said.
The Pakistan government's response was measured.
"Pakistan is against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," said
Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman, Aziz Ahmed Khan. "President Gen.
Pervez Musharraf and the government have already condemned the incident."
"Simply issuing a statement is not enough," he said, adding India would
"have to provide us some evidence."
The Jaish-e-Mohammed group is accused of carrying out a massive suicide
bombing attack against the Jammu-Kashmir state legislature on Oct. 1. That
assault claimed 40 lives and was similar to Thursday's attack on Parliament.
Speaking from Islamabad, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba spokesman Yahya Mujahid said:
"This is drama staged by Indian intelligence agencies in collusion with the
Indian government to have the jihadi (militant) groups and Pakistan declared
as terrorists. India wants to use the present international atmosphere
against terrorism against Pakistan. No Kashmiri group is involved in attacks
on civilians."
Singh would not reveal the evidence India claims to have against the
militant organizations.
"There are obvious difficulties in revealing the evidence right now," he
said. "The agencies of government have many means of obtaining
intelligence."
He said India had held consultations with the United States and other
countries to pass on this evidence.
India has accused Pakistan of sponsoring and funding Islamic militants
fighting for independence in the disputed Himalayan province of Kashmir.
India and Pakistan have gone to war twice over the territory, which both
countries claim in its entirety.
India has been skeptical of Pakistan's new role as a key ally in the
U.S.-led global war on terrorism.
"Pakistan has asserted that it is with the rest of the international
community in combatting terrorism and that it does not promote terrorism,"
Singh said. "We expect that Pakistan will abide with what it says itself."
Asked whether India intended to take military action against the militants
on Pakistani territory, Singh said: "India has said what it has to say
through the voice of the statement of the Cabinet."
On Thursday, the Cabinet issued a pledge to fight terrorism.
"We will liquidate the terrorists and their sponsors, wherever they are,
whoever they are," the statement said.
�MMI, CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press and
Reuters Limited contributed to this report.
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