US official had accused Pak of exporting terror

The Times of India

By Rachna Burman

NEW DELHI: The Clinton administration's seniormost counter-terrorism official, Michael A Sheehan, had late last year testified that Pakistan had become a base for terrorist attacks on India.

Testifying before a Senate subcommittee in Washington in early November, the coordinator for counter-terrorism in the US state department, who had earlier visited New Delhi for talks with Indian leaders on the issue, had accused Pakistan of providing material support to Kashmiri militants. This was the first time any top US official has bluntly accused Pakistan of aiding terrorists in Kashmir.

After the hearings in the subcommittee headed by Senator Sam Brownback, Sheehan had told reporters that Pakistan's military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, had made one or two good statements but the US would ``go by results, not by words''.

``Within Pakistan, there are numerous Kashmiri separatist groups and sectarian groups involved in terrorism which use Pakistan as a base. Pakistan has frequently acknowledged what it calls `moral and diplomatic support' for militants in Kashmir who employ violence and terrorism against Indian interests. We have continuing reports of Pakistani material support for some of these militants,'' he had told the subcommittee.

``One such group, the Harakat-Ul-Mujahidin, was involved in the still-unresolved July 1995 kidnapping of four Westerners, including one American, in Kashmir. In February 1998, the Harakat-Ul-Mujahidin's leader co-signed Osama Bin Laden's anti-American fatwa. The Harakat-Ul-Mujahidin has openly promised to kill Americans `everywhere in the world'.

``In addition, the Harakat-Ul-Mujahidin cooperates with Laden and receives his assistance in maintaining its training facilities in Afghanistan. The Harakat-Ul-Mujahidin is also tied to the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, a militant sectarian group, believed responsible for the attempted assassination of then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in January 1999. Other groups, such as the Lashkar-i-Toiba, the Harkat Ul-Jihad-i-Islami, and the Hizbul Mujahideen operate freely in Pakistan and support terrorist attacks in Kashmir,'' Sheehan told the subcommittee.

In addition to being a base for terrorist attacks on India, Sheehan charged Islamabad also with supporting terrorist training in Afghanistan. The US, he disclosed, had urged Islamabad to close certain Islamic schools that ``actually serve as conduits for terrorism.''

``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. We have also urged Islamabad to close certain madrasas, or Islamic schools, that serve as conduits for terrorism.'' Sheehan testified that while the Taliban leadership was not overtly hostile to the US, its actions and its tolerance of terrorist groups ``seriously obstruct our counter-terrorist efforts.''

The Taliban, he said, was sheltering Laden and other terrorist groups. Laden and his Al-Qaida network ``represent an alarming trend in terrorism directed against the US. Laden has created a truly trans-national terrorist enterprise, drawing on recruits from areas across Asia, Africa and Europe, as well as the Middle East,'' Sheehan said.

``Laden's alliance draws together extremist groups from different regions, linked only by hatred of the US and those governments with which we have friendly relations. Perhaps most ominously, Laden has avowed his intention to obtain weapons of mass destruction,'' Sheehan said.

``Afghanistan has become a new safe haven for terrorist groups. In addition to Laden and Al-Qaida, the Taliban play host to members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the Algerian armed Islamic group, Kashmiri separatists, and a number of militant organizations from Central Asia, including terrorists from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan,'' Sheehan had told the subcommittee.

``We have imposed sanctions on the Taliban and have worked hard to bring about international sanctions approved by the UN Security Council last month. Yet the Taliban stubbornly persist in giving refuge to Laden and his associates.'' The Taliban faces a November 14 deadline to hand over Laden or face UN sanctions.

Sheehan said the US has urged Pakistan to use its influence to persuade the Taliban to render Laden to a country where he can be brought to justice, and ``we will persist in this effort.'' Notwithstanding successes in many areas, he said ``our fight against terrorism in the Middle East and South Asia has a long way to go.''

The ``centre of anti-American terrorism,'' Sheehan said, has moved eastward from Libya, Syria and Lebanon to South Asia.'' But Iran remains the one active state sponsor of terrorism.