Pakistan Fears India Attack if U.S. Invades Iraq

10/09/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: Pakistan's UN Envoy Refers Reporters' Questions on Islamabad's Precautionary Measures to President Musharraf||Washington promises India to Press Pakistan on Elections in Kashmir||Kashmiri Nationalists Kill 3 Indian Policemen in Indian-ruled Kashmir||Pakistan Arrests 5 in 2nd. Musharraf Murder Plot|| STORY: Islamabad is worried that India may take advantage of any U.S.-led military assault on Iraq to quietly attack Pakistan, Pakistan's ambassador to the United Nations said on Monday.

"A lot of our friends have asked about what would happen if there is an attack on Iraq by an international coalition. I think a more relevant question is what would happen if India were to take a pre-emptive strike on Pakistan. That is our fear," envoy Munir Akram said.

He was responding to a reporter who asked at a media luncheon whether Pakistan feared it might be destabilized by a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Akram said India might be tempted to time an attack on Pakistan to coincide with an assault on Iraq because Washington, the main mediator in the dispute over Kashmir, would be distracted by the situation in Baghdad.

But asked if Islamabad were taking precautions against such a possibility or discussing it with Washington or others, Akram referred questions to Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, who is due in New York on Thursday to address the U.N. General Assembly.

Diplomats at India's U.N. mission had no immediate comment on Akram's remarks.

WASHINGTON PROMISES INDIA TO PRESS PAKISTAN ON ELECTIONS IN KASHMIR

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell assured Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh on Monday that the United States is pressing Pakistan not to interfere with upcoming elections in the Indian sector of Kashmir.

With Singh standing at his side, Powell said the United States expects those elections to be conducted in a free and fair manner that will be obvious to people.

Powell and Singh spoke hours after suspected Kashmiri nationalist fighters ambushed an Indian police patrol in a Kashmir village and killed three officers. Violence has been on the increase as the elections approach. Kashmiri nationalist fighters have been calling on Kashmiris to boycott the elections.

President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will meet later this week at the United Nations.

PAKISTAN ARRESTS FIVE IN 2ND MUSHARRAF MURDER PLOT

In Islamabad, five suspected Islamic militants accused of a second plot to assassinate Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in April have been arrested.

A senior police official told Reuters the suspects belonged to the al-Almi offshoot of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen group, which planned two assassination attempts in April.

Four members of the group were arrested in July and accused of plotting to assassinate Musharraf in the southern port city of Karachi.

According to the source, the second plot was also planned for April, when Musharraf was in Karachi to address a public rally in connection with a referendum on extending his rule.

Harkat-ul-Mujahideen has long figured on the U.S. list of organizations deemed terrorist, and is accused of having links with Kashmiri nationalist fighting Indian rule in the disputed Kashmir region as well as Afghanistan's former Taliban regime.

PHOTO CAPTION

Yashwant Sinha, left, India's new Minister of External Affairs, and Secretary of State Colin Powell, talk to reporters after meeting Monday, Sept. 9, 2002 in Washington. Powell says he assured India that the U.S. will continue to press Pakistan to stop the movement of terrorists in the disputed Kashmir region. (AP Photo, J. Scott Applewhite)
- Sep 09 3:28 PM ET