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US concerned about Pak support for terrorists

The Bill Clinton administration has spoken of ''continuing reports of Pakistani material support'' for some of the militant groups active in Kashmir.

''Within the territory of Pakistan, there are numerous Kashmiri separatist groups and sectarian groups involved in terrorism which use Pakistan as a base,'' said counter-terrorism co-ordinator at the state department Michel Sheehan, in his testimony before the Senate foreign relations committee yesterday.

He said, ''Pakistan has frequently acknowledged what it calls moral and diplomatic support for militants in Kashmir who employ violence and terrorism against Indian interests.''

One such group, the Harkat-ul-Mujahdeen, was involved in the still-unresolved July 1995 kidnapping of four Westerners, including an American, in Kashmir. In February 1998, the Harkat's leader ''co-signed Saudi fugitive Osama Bin Laden's anti-American fatwa,'' he added.

Sheehan said the Taliban leadership was not overtly hostile to the United States, but its action and tolerance of terrorist groups seriously obstruct American counter-terrorism efforts.

''As far as Pakistan is concerned, we have repeatedly asked Islamabad to end support for terrorist training in Afghanistan, to interdict travel of militants to and from camps in Afghanistan, to prevent militant groups from acquiring weapons, and to block financial and logistical support to camps in Afghanistan,'' he added.

UNI

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