No plan to ban Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen: Moin

WASHINGTON (NNI): Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider has said that the government has no plan to ban the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen

Talking to reporters here after meeting US officials, Haider, however, said Pakistan was making efforts to curb their activities through a process of de-weaponisation.

The minister wanted India to "improve its human rights records in Kashmir by abandoning harassment of the common people". Excesses by Indian security forces were forcing the people to resort to extra-constitutional means, he said.

Haider said that under the process of de-weaponisation, the government had stopped issuing new arms licences. It was also trying to introduce modern education in 'madrasas'.

During his meeting with US Attorney General Janet Reno, Haider exchanged views on judicial and legal reforms in Pakistan and said the US had promised to help his country in this endeavour. Besides Reno, Haider met some Congress members and US officials dealing with counter-terrorism.

Earlier, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief, Lt. Gen Mahmood Ahmed, during his three-day visit here, met Central ntelligence Agency (CIA) Director George Tenet. The Pakistani Embassy here clarified that the ISI chief's visit had nothing to do with President Bill Clinton's South Asia tour.