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I am shocked: Musharraf
By B. Muralidhar Reddy
ISLAMABAD, DEC. 13. Within hours of the attack on the Parliament House today, the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, sent a message to the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, strongly condemning it and conveying his deep condolences to the bereaved families.
Gen. Musharraf said in his letter: ``I was shocked to learn about the attack earlier today by armed intruders on the Indian Parliament building in New Delhi. I have been saddened by the loss of life and injuries suffered by the Indian security personnel.''
Conveying his sympathies to the Government and the people of India and his deep condolences to the bereaved families, Gen. Musharraf said: ``My Government strongly condemns the attack. Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.''
The Pakistan Foreign Office issued a separate statement saying ``the Government of Pakistan has received with shock the news about the attack on the Indian Parliament building in New Delhi by armed intruders, which has resulted in a number of causalities. The Government strongly and unequivocally condemns the attack.'' The Foreign Office spokesman, Mr. Aziz Khan, declined to answer whether there was any attempt by India to implicate Pakistan in the attack. At the moment, there was nothing to suggest any such thing.
On the Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes' reported observation on a television channel that the suicide squad was speaking in Kashmiri, the Press Secretary to the Pakistan President, Maj. Gen. Rashid Quereshi, said ``we do not know the veracity of what you are saying. If it were correct, a doubt would arise straightaway. If all the intruders were killed how could the Defence Minister get the information that they were speaking in Kashmiri?''
`Outrageous,' says U.S.
AP reports from New Delhi:
The U.S. Ambassador to India, Mr. Robert Blackwill, described the attack as an ``outrageous act of terrorism.'' And the U.S. Embassy spokesman, Mr. Gordon Duguid, said in a statement, ``we condemn this outrageous act of terrorism and express our deepest sympathy to the families of the victims of this attack.''
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