DATE=3/23/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=PAKISTAN / CLINTON VISIT (L-O)
NUMBER=2-260518
BYLINE=AYAZ GUL
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Pakistan's military ruler General Pervez
Musharraf says he will ask President Clinton, when he
visits Pakistan Saturday, to play a role "in the
background" for a settlement of the Kashmir dispute.
President Clinton says he wants Pakistan and India to
resolve the 53-year old issue through bilateral talks.
From Islamabad, Ayaz Gul reports.
TEXT: General Musharraf says India refuses to hold
talks with Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir conflict,
which he says, remains a threat to the peace in South
Asia. Addressing a news conference in the capital, the
general says this is the message he will give to
President Clinton when he arrives in Islamabad on
Saturday.
/// MUSHARRAF ACT ///
I want to be very frank with him (President
Clinton) and tell him that peace can be brought
about here by addressing the (Kashmir) issue,
which is bewildering the region. He must assist
in bringing peace to the region by addressing
the issues, which are the cause of all the
strife in the area.
/// END ACT ///
President Clinton has made it clear that the United
States will not mediate the Kashmir dispute. India
has been against mediation and says the dispute should
be resolved bilaterally.
General Musharraf says he does not agree. He says he
plans to present President Clinton with Pakistan's
point of view of the dispute.
/// MUSHARRAF ACT TWO ///
I certainly do not see that President Clinton
will go away from the region having endorsed
Indian viewpoint on the dispute between India
and Pakistan and that is the Kashmir dispute. I
am confident we will moderate his viewpoint.
/// END ACT ///
The military leader has also denied reported
accusations by President Clinton that "elements" in
the Pakistani government are supporting violence in
the Kashmir region.
/// MUSHARRAF ACT THREE///
No part of the (Pakistani) government is ever
involved in any violence (in Kashmir). That I
totally disagree.
/// END ACT ///
India accuses Pakistan's secret agency, the I-S-I, of
providing military support to Kashmiri groups fighting
Indian rule in the two-thirds of Kashmir under New
Delhi's control. Pakistan, which controls the rest of
the Himalayan region, denies the charge and says it
only provides moral, political and diplomatic support
to the insurgents there. (SIGNED)
NEB/AG/JO
23-Mar-2000 13:14 PM EDT (23-Mar-2000 1814 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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