US plays down claims of al-Qaida in Kashmir

Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, today sought to play down earlier assertions that al-Qaida fighters were operating in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, close to the porous Indian border.

Speaking at the close of a two-day visit to New Delhi and Islamabad, Mr Rumsfeld said US intelligence of al-Qaida's involvement in the disputed territory was merely "speculative" and not verifiable.

Comments made yesterday in New Delhi saying there were "indications that there, in fact, are al-Qaida in the areas we're talking about", had angered Pakistan, largely because they were seized on by India as evidence of continued militant activity in Kashmir.

Indian officials have said there are indications that Osama bin Laden's terrorist network is operating in Kashmir, where Islamic insurgents are battling to end Indian rule.

"The facts are that I do not have evidence and the United States does not have evidence of al-Qaida in Kashmir," Mr Rumsfeld told reporters after talks with Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf.

He added that US-Pakistani cooperation against al-Qaida was so close that if there were any "actionable intelligence" about the group's presence, "there isn't any doubt in my mind but that the Pakistan government would go find them and deal with them."

Gen Musharraf said yesterday he remains worried that a recent easing of tensions may not last.

"The situation will remain grim until we disengage on the border," he said, during a trip to Saudi Arabia. He returned to the Pakistani capital shortly after Mr Rumsfeld arrived on Wednesday night.

But as Mr Rumsfeld held talks in Islamabad this morning, the president and prime minister of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir joined about 500 people at a demonstration in the regional capital Muzafarrabad to denounce the "duplicitous policies" of the US.

"The struggle in Kashmir is not terrorism. It is an indigenous bid by a people for their freedom," President Sardar Mohammed Anwar Khan said. "It has to be recognized as such by the United States."