Pakistan pledges terrorist crackdown; militants protest

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- President Pervez Musharraf's pledge to crack down on terrorism failed to persuade India to ease the tense military standoff, and Kashmiri militants vowed more attacks against Indian rule in the contested Himalayan territory.\nIndia's government Sunday welcomed Musharraf's promise to prevent Pakistan from being used as a base for terrorism and to ban five Islamic extremist groups. Two of the groups have been accused by India of the Dec. 13 attack on the Indian parliament in which 14 people were killed.\nMore than 1,000 people, most of them from the five groups, were rounded up during a weekend crackdown that began just before Musharraf's speech was broadcast Saturday, Interior Ministry official Tasneem Noorani said.\nPolice also raided the offices of at least two Kashmiri groups not covered by the ban, members of the organizations said. At least 80 people from those organizations -- al-Badr Mujahedeen and Harkat-ul Mujahedeen -- were arrested.\n"The government is targeting (militant) groups at the behest of America and India," said Mustaq Askari, an al-Badr spokesman. "But any crackdown or restrictions won't hurt our struggle. Our Kashmiri jihad will continue."\nIn New Delhi, Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh welcomed the ban on the two extremist groups blamed for the parliament attack -- Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba. But Singh told reporters India was "looking forward to full implementation of this measure" so members of the groups do not continue their activities under other names.\n"There would be a similar need to address other organizations targeting India, as also the parent organizations that spawned them," Singh said.\nMeanwhile, India will maintain its forces along the Pakistani border, where one million heavily armed and nuclear capable troops from the two nations face one another in their largest buildup since the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war.\nPresident Bush telephoned Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sunday to urge them to continue peace efforts.\nIndia blames Pakistan for fueling the 12-year revolt against Indian rule in Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state. Kashmir was divided between Pakistan and India when they became independent of Britain in 1947.\nPakistan maintains it provides only moral support to separatists.\n"Kashmir runs in our blood," Musharraf said Saturday. "No Pakistani can break links with Kashmir."\nThe latest confrontation began Oct. 1, when a suicide bombing at the legislature building in Indian Kashmir killed 40 people. Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility and then denied involvement two days later.\nTensions escalated Dec. 13, when five armed gunmen stormed the Indian Parliament complex and opened fire. The five were killed after having shot dead nine Indians. India claims the five assailants were Pakistani nationals working for Pakistani intelligence. Pakistan denied any role.\nMusharraf's ban on extremist groups does not extend to all Kashmiri guerrilla organizations. More \nthan a dozen are allied in an umbrella organization, the United Jihad Council.\nThe council chairman, Sayed Salahuddin, said Sunday the "armed freedom struggle" would continue because the groups are indigenous and can operate without Pakistani support, a claim India rejects.\nIndia's measured response appeared to reflect the difficulties it faces in the confrontation, which has brought the region to the brink of war at a time when the U.S. and its allies, including Pakistan, are trying to destroy Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network in Afghanistan.\nPakistan, which borders Afghanistan, is a key Muslim ally in the war against terrorism. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who will visit the region this week, hailed Musharraf's "bold and principled stand," saying the basis now exists "for the resolution of tensions between India and Pakistan through diplomatic and peaceful means."\nMusharraf, however, refused to back down on Pakistan's "moral and diplomatic" support for Kashmiri aspirations for self-determination. He also refused to hand over Pakistani nationals sought by India on terrorist charges, although he agreed to try them here if there is compelling evidence.\nIndia's government, meanwhile, cannot afford to be seen as backing down in the face of international pressure while Pakistan remains firm in its support for Kashmiri self-determination.\n"India was expecting much more and hoping that Pakistan would change its policy on Kashmir as it did on Afghanistan," retired Gen. Mirza Aslam Beg, former chief of the Pakistani army, told The Associated Press. "But that has not happened, which is a great disappointment for India. India tried to intimidate Pakistan by amassing troops at the border to force Pakistan to change its stand on Kashmir and get the whole Kashmir freedom movement as terrorism"