US asking Pak to pull back from Kashmir?

11 December 2001
The Hindustan Times

Washington DC: A leading American newspaper has said that the United States, after pressuring Pakistan to withdraw support to the Taliban, is now asking Islamabad for an even tougher pullback from extremism in Jammu and Kashmir. CIA director George Tenet, on a recent visit to Islamabad, pushed Pakistan''s military leaders to monitor and put pressure on pro- Taliban religious extremists, including those in Kashmir, unnamed Washington experts were quoted as saying by the Chicago Tribune. The US, faced with growing evidence that Kashmir fighters are allied with Al-Qaeda and other terrorists groups, is now insisting that Pakistan back away. Most experts believe Musharraf will not be persuaded to withdraw support for Kashmir fighters without some kind of guarantee in return that India will come to the bargaining table on Kashmir, the paper said. Some observers think US pressure could help bring India and Pakistan to the negotiating table.