Pak. outfits decry Powell's remark

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, OCT. 3. The United Jehadi Council (UJC), an umbrella organisation of 14 Pakistan-based militant outfits, today denounced the reported remarks of the U.S. Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, that Washington's war on terrorism would eventually extend to the type of extremist violence India faced in Kashmir.

A special meeting of the UJC, under the chairmanship of the Hizb- ul-Mujahideen chief, Syed Salahuddin, at Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, took note of the remarks made by Gen. Powell and adopted a strongly worded statement decrying the U.S. for bracketing the ``legitimate struggle'' of the people of Kashmir with terrorism.

The statement characterised the remarks of Gen. Powell in the presence of the Indian External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, as ``ridiculous, unrealistic and ignored the historical facts.''

Interestingly the statement coincided with a denial from the Jaish-e-Mohammad, the Pakistan militant outfit which reportedly claimed responsibility for the blast in the J&K Assembly on Tuesday, that any of its activists were behind the incident.

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Section  : International
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