International
`U.S. expects Pak. to take more action against terrorists'
By Sridhar Krishnaswami
WASHINGTON, JAN. 5. The Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has said that while the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, has done ``quite a bit'', the United States expects him to take more action vis-a-vis terrorist outfits.
Gen. Powell said a decision on sending a Special Envoy to the sub-continent would be made early next week or after the SAARC summit in Kathmandu, Nepal.
During the course of an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation, Gen. Powell was asked if Islamabad had done enough to rein in the militants. Listing what Gen. Musharraf had done, the Secretary of State said, ``So he has done quite a bit and I expect him to do more. I expect him to make other statements when he gets back from the SAARC meeting in Kathmandu and in due course, we will see whether or not we have found a political and diplomatic solution to the crisis''.
On the subject of a Special Envoy, Gen. Powell argued that the Bush administration had two excellent envoys in New Delhi and Islamabad. ``As far as somebody actually going there to add to our efforts, this is under consideration and we will take a hard look at this at the beginning of next week, after the leaders have returned from Kathmandu. They are all in Kathmandu right now, so there wouldn't be much point in sending an envoy right now, for additional presence''.
The State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, clarified that the Envoy could be one of the officials presently dealing with the crisis. ``I wouldn't couch this in terms of an `envoy' towards the region...We may, indeed, send someone from Washington to continue our activity, to continue working on the situation. I am not sure I would describe that as a special envoy. It may be one of the officials in Washington who is responsible for the crisis'', he said.
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