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Pak Blames India For Blast

Pak Blames India For Blast

Author: Pranay Sharma and Idrees Bakhtiar
Publication: The Telegraph
Date: March 19, 2002

New Delhi and Islamabad, March 18: An embarrassed Pakistan, under international glare for yesterday's grenade attack on a church, today blamed India for the tragedy even as a US official cut short her Delhi trip and left for Islamabad.

In Delhi, foreign ministry spokesperson Nirupama Rao described Pakistan's allegations as " preposterous and unadulterated rubbish".

While the two neighbours played the blame game, US assistant secretary of state Christina Rocca cut short her visit to India and left for Islamabad to be with the American embassy officials there. She will also discuss the current situation with the Pervez Musharraf regime.

Five persons, including American diplomat Milton Green's wife and child, were killed in the grenade attack on the Islamabad church. Forty people, including Green, are in a serious condition.

The government has announced a special task force to probe the incident.

"President Musharraf expressed his dismay at the recent lapse in security in Islamabad which resulted in the loss of innocent lives," the military government said in a statement after he met senior commanders.

On the identity of the attacker, Pakistan interior minister Moinuddin Haider told CNN that he could have been a "suicide bomber" and the unidentified mutilated victim.

Rocca, who arrived in Delhi on Saturday from Sri Lanka, was scheduled to meet foreign minister Jaswant Singh, national security adviser Brajesh Mishra, India's special envoy to Afghanistan Sati Lambah and other senior officials in South Block today. But she cut short her visit within hours of the attack.

"In order to accompany the fallen in Islamabad back to the United States, given this tragedy, I am curtailing my visit to New Delhi and proceeding at once to Pakistan. I thank my Indian counterparts for their understanding in this matter," Rocca said in a statement.

The Indian foreign office said Rocca would return to the US from Islamabad. Officials said fresh dates for her visit to India would be worked out soon.

Pakistan, which is usually at the receiving end of allegations from India for any terror attack, appears to have adopted similar tactics.

Pakistan's law minister Khalid Ranjha was quoted in The Washington Post as saying: "May be it's an exercise to spoil our relations with our foreign friends. One cannot rule out the possibility that they chose the place to embarrass the Pakistani government."

"I would not take it completely out of consideration that India might be involved," the minister added.

Describing Ranjha's claim as "totally preposterous", the foreign ministry spokesperson said: "The government of India strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Islamabad and regrets the loss of innocent lives."

Washington continues to rally behind Musharraf and described such attacks as attempts by terrorists and fundamentalist forces in Pakistan to undermine his position.
 


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