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Pallone threatens to declare Pak 'terrorist state'

C K Arora in Washington

Democratic congressman Frank Pallone has threatened to introduce a legislation in the US House of Representatives, seeking to declare Pakistan 'a terrorist state' if Islamabad fails to stop Pakistan-based terrorist groups's activities in Jammu and Kashmir.

Pallone, who is co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus on India, expressed his concern in separate letters last night to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Pakistani Ambassador to the US, Riaz Khokhar.

Pakistan-based terrorist organisations, he said, continued to operate in Kashmir. Besides causing wide-spread terror and severe economic dislocation in Kashmir, the terrorist movement Harkat- ul Ansar had been blamed for abducting Western tourists, including an American. The US had declared Harkat-ul Ansar a terrorist group.

He also took note of the concern expressed by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah over Pakistan's involvement.

Pallone wanted top officials of the US and Pakistani governments to know that ''our bilateral relations'' had been marred by a series of events, including the killing in Karachi of four employees of an American oil company last fortnight and the arrest and conviction of a US Drug Enforcement Administration official Ayyaz Baluch.

He called for the immediate release of Baluch who is a Pakistani national.

The congressman also appeared dissatisfied with the manner in which the Pakistan government was investigating the killing of the four US oil company executives.

He, however, said, ''My goal is not to isolate Pakistan, but to try to resolve the problems that detract from our relationship.''

Pallone made it clear that many US law-makers were increasingly discouraged by Pakistani actions. ''If things don't change, there may be a movement in Congress to have Pakistan declared a terrorist state.''

He said there was ''persistent, credible evidence that these terrorist groups were getting training and back-up support -- not merely political and diplomatic support -- from Pakistan''.

UNI

EARLIER REPORT:
US slaps terrorist law on Harkat, LTTE

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