Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=12/31/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-284784

TITLE=U-S-INDIA-PAK (L)

BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST

DATELINE=STATE DEPARTMENT

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The Bush administration is welcoming Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's crackdown on the two Pakistan-based Kashmiri militant groups blamed by India for the December 13th terrorist attack on the Indian parliament. U-S officials are continuing telephone diplomacy in the South Asian crisis while expressing hope tensions may be easing. V-O-A's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

TEXT: President Bush had urged Mr. Musharraf in a telephone talk on Saturday to move against anti-Indian extremists, and in comments in Texas he said the fact the Pakistani leader was, as he put it "cracking down hard" on the groups is "a good sign."

In an impromptu talk with reporters, the President gave details of his weekend conversations with both the Pakistani president and with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Mr. Bush said he told the Indian leader he understood his anger over the New Delhi attack, while also expressing hope the parties were not headed for war, and that India would give Pakistan time to move against the militants.

Pakistan said Monday it had detained Hafiz Mohammed Saeed -- a founder of the Lashkar-e-Toiba group this, after taking leaders of the other faction implicated by India Jaish-e-Mohammad -- into custody late last week.

All told, Pakistani authorities have detained more than 50 militants since India demanded that the groups be shut down.

Briefing reporters here, State Department spokesman Philip Reeker noted India's welcome of the arrests, and said the South Asian powers appear to be pulling back from confrontation:

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Indian Foreign Jaswant Singh has welcomed the arrest of Saeed, calling it and other Pakistani actions a step foward. And we are pleased that both countries continue to act responsibly in order to avoid a conflict. As we've said so many times, they need to resolve their differences through dialogue.

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An official here said that in addition to the round-up of militant leaders, Pakistani authorities had closed offices of the two groups in several cities, and clamped down on anti-Indian incitement, recruitment and fund-raising activities.

He said public support for President Musharraf's crackdown appears to be growing reflecting what the Pakistani leader himself has said is a "silent majority" in Pakistan that does not want extremists to hijack the country's political agenda.

Spokesman Reeker again cited the week's South Asian regional summit in Katmandu as a venue for crisis-resolution talks between India and Pakistan.

Both President Musharraf and the Indian prime minister are expected to be in the Nepalese capital later in the week, though no face-to-face meeting has yet been scheduled.

Mr. Reeker said Secretary of State Colin Powell continued his telephone diplomacy on the crisis Monday with a calls to President Musharraf and U-N Secretary-General Kofi Annan, as well as conversations with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. (Signed)

NEB/DAG/MAR