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Bush expresses concern
By Sridhar Krishnaswami
WASHINGTON, JAN. 23. The United States President, Mr. George W. Bush, is very concerned about the violence in Kolkata where motorcycle-borne terrorists killed five policemen, and is looking forward to getting information on the perpetrators of the attack.
``The perpetrators of that (attack) have not yet been identified and the President is looking forward to finding out if that is going to be information that is obtainable. The President is very concerned about the violence that took place in Kolkata and the innocents who were affected in the attack'', the White House Spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said on Wednesday.
When asked in West Virginia whether the attack was an attack on America, Mr. Bush had said ``...we're gathering more information about it to find out exactly what the facts are. Terror is terror, however it doesn't matter whether it's an attack on us or an attack on other people. You've got to work together to fight off terrorists,''
The State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, said on Tuesday that there were unverified reports of the attack being against the West Bengal police. ``...as far as who exactly was responsible for this, we don't know at this point,'' he said.
``We have seen reports that a phone call to police and newspaper claims the attack targeted the West Bengal police in retaliation for police actions against a group that is active on the Indo-Bangladesh border. But we are unable to verify the claim. We are working closely with the Indian authorities to ensure the safety of all our posts in India and cooperate fully with their investigation of this incident,'' Mr. Boucher said.
On the issue of sale of the Israeli-built Phalcon AWACS system to India, he said the U.S. was not opposed to the sale but was only inquiring about the timing of the proposed sale. The criteria for evaluation, among other things, would include regional stability and balance and situation and use of equipment.
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