US warns Pak on jehadi outfits, condemns threat against Vajpayee

“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 incontrovertibleevidence — 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.