Author:
Publications: The Economic Times
Dated: September 23, 2001
Washington, Sept 22: TERRORISM in
Jammu and Kashmir is on US president George W Bush's target list along
with other terrorist movements like Irish terrorism and Basque terrorism,
secretary of state Colin Powell has said unambiguously in an interview
to the BBC.
'Any organization that is interested
in terrorist operations to over-throw legitimate governments, democratically
elected governments, or governments that represent the will of their people
is a threat. We should go after them,' Mr. Powell said in reply to a question
whether US war against terrorism includes Irish terrorism, Kashmiri terrorism
nad Basque terrorism.
'This is not new for the US. We
recently designated the real IRA, a terrorist organization. We have done
the same thing with three organisations in Colombia, the FARC, the ELN
and recently their paramilitary, the AUC,' he added.
The US also firmly rejected a Pakistani
report suggesting that Bush is only against terrorist outfits with global
reach and not the Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism in Kashmir.
The suggestion was made by sources
in Pakistan, described as 'opinion makers' in the Washington Post's report
based on Bush's remarks in Congress yesterday. Bush had said: 'Our war
on terror begins with Al-Qaida, but it does not end there. It will not
end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped
and defeated.'
Responding to the report, White
House press secretary Ari Fleischer said: 'I think the President's message
to terrorists is clear: that those who carry out acts of terror that threaten
freedom will find a very strong foe in the US and in the coalition.'
The 'opinion makers' in Pakistan
had claimed that Bush had given Islamabad the dispensation to continue
supporting militants, whom Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf described
as 'freedom fighters', in Kashmir as it had no global reach'.
'Pakistan has salvaged its ability
to continue supporting the Muslim guerrilla conflict in Indian Kashmir,
a popular mainstay of Pakistan's foreign policy,' the Post reported.
On the issue of support from India
and Pakistan to US' fight against terrorism, Fleischer said: 'Pakistan,
has been supportive. As the president said this will be a time for Pakistan
to determine in actions what course it seems to take. And he has been very
encouraged by the results and the actions of Pakistan, of India, of the
neighbouring countries.' - Agencies
