DATE=1/25/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-S / PAKISTAN-HIJACK (L)
NUMBER=2-258427
BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST
DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: President Clinton says the United States has
no evidence the Pakistani government was behind last
month's hijacking of an Indian airliner, this
despite a New York Times newspaper report to that
effect. VOA's David Gollust reports from the White
House.
TEXT: Administration officials say they believe the
hijacking was the work of Kashmiri separatists with
past connections to the Pakistani military.
But they say there is no indication Pakistan's
government had advance knowledge of, supported, or
helped carry out the hijacking itself, which left one
Air India passenger dead and increased tensions in the
region.
The New York Times report, which quoted senior State
Department officials and headlined an allegation of
official Pakistani backing for the hijacking, drew an
unusually vigorous response from top administration
officials, including President Clinton, who was asked
about it in a talk with reporters here:
/// CLINTON ACTUALITY ///
I guess the simplest thing I can tell you is
that we do not have evidence that the Pakistani
government was in any way involved in that
hijacking. We don't.
/// END ACT ///
The Kashmiri group implicated in the hijacking -
Harkat ul-Mujahedeen - is accused of kidnapping
Western tourists in Indian Kashmir and of staging
forays across the line of control in Kashmir in
coordination with Pakistani forces.
The faction, formerly known as Harkat ul-Ansar, has
been on a U-S list of foreign terrorist groups since
1997 and State Department officials say the United
States has long been concerned that the Pakistani
government has given support to it and other Kashmiri
factions.
The New York Times, in elements of its story not
contested by the White House, said U-S officials had
learned of the group's involvement soon after the
eight-day hijacking drama ended December 31st.
It said senior administration visiting Islamabad last
week had asked Pakistan's military leader General
Pervez Musharraf to ban the group, but according to
the Times, the U-S appeal was rebuffed.
The development came as administration officials
finalized plans for a long-delayed visit to South Asia
by President Clinton expected in late March.
The trip, which spokesmen here say will be announced
soon, will reportedly include stops in India and
Bangladesh, but it is unclear whether Mr. Clinton will
go to Pakistan.
A planned Clinton visit to India and Pakistan in 1998
was called off after both South Asian powers staged
underground nuclear weapons tests. (Signed)
NEB/DAG/KL
25-Jan-2000 14:36 PM EDT (25-Jan-2000 1936 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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