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Omar Abdullah blames Pak. for Raghunath temple attack

DUBAI APRIL 2. The Minister of State for External Affairs, Omar Abdullah, has blamed Pakistan for the terrorist attacks on the Raghunath temple in Jammu and ruled out withdrawing troops from the border, saying Islamabad had done nothing to warrant it.

Slamming ``forces from across the border'' for the attack on the temple aimed at creating discord among communities in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr. Abdullah said the ``people of Jammu and Kashmir reacted with dignity and maturity''.

``We are not closer to de-escalation (along the border) than we were a month or two months ago,'' the Minister said while briefing reporters on Monday about the talks he had in Teheran with the Iranian President, Mohammed Khatami, during his visit as the Prime Minister's special envoy. The State Government had given tight security to the Raghunath temple as well as the Vaishno Devi temple, but suicide attacks by terrorists could be entirely prevented, he said. Pakistan had not acted on New Delhi's request to extradite 20 criminals. India would wait till the end of the winter to see if the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, continued with the "game of infiltration".

Many bilateral issues, including the proposed Iran-India gas pipeline, Afghanistan and the recent communal violence in Gujarat were discussed. — PTI

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