WASHINGTON: The Clinton Administration has decided not to declare Pakistan as a state that Sponsors terrorism for its alleged role in Kashmir and Punjab.
Announcing this, the official Spokesman of the State Department, Mike McCurry said that in the last six months Pakistan had shown credible evidence of addressing US concerns about sponsoring terrorism in the two Indian States.
He said, “They have indicated that they are willing to cooperate with us… I think we have seen real Progress.”
‘The annual report on terrorism published by the US State Department in April had said that there was credible evidence of Pakistani support for terrorism in Kashmir and Punjab. And Pakistan had been put on an informal watch list of terrorist states.
McCurry, while saying that Pakistan had taken important steps in keeping with US concerns, also Said that the US would continue to monitor the activities of Pakistan in this regard.
As of now, however, he said that the Secretary of State had determined that Pakistan was not continuing to provide repeated support to terrorists in Kashmir and Punjab and that there was no need to put it on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism.
Asked whether the decision not to put Pakistan on the list of state Sponsors of terrorism had to do with reasons such as Pakistani cooperation in other foreign policy areas or providing peace keeping troops in Somalia along with the US, the State Department spokesman Said that the Secretary of State had only followed the letter of the law.
Although Sudan was another country whose activities were also being monitored along with that of Pakistan, no decision has been taken on the status of that country.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 30, 1993
