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Live up to promises, U.S. tells Pak.

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington May 28. Reacting to the speech of the Pakistani leader, Pervez Musharraf, the United States has welcomed his reiteration that his country's soil will not be used for terrorist activities.

``President Musharraf has publicly committed to stopping terrorist activity over the Line of Control (LoC). He has said publicly that he is cracking down on militants and terrorists that operate within Pakistan for the purpose of perpetrating violence in Kashmir. We welcome that commitment. We also expect him to live up to it. We tell him so publicly and privately,'' a senior administration official told The Hindu. ``We have reason to believe that President Musharraf will live up to his promises.''

The official said that the administration will continue to keep urging Gen. Musharraf to freeze all activities across the LoC. The U.S. took a positive view of the General's statement that Pakistan would not initiate a war.

Generally, the administration officials are reluctant to comment in depth on the speech of Gen. Musharraf and the response of the External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh.

The Bush administration has been leaning quite hard on Gen. Musharraf making the point that he ought to crack down on militant activities across the LoC. The U.S. President, George W. Bush, travelling in Europe, had pointedly said that Gen. Musharraf lives up to his word and that ``he performs''.

Mr. Bush, in the course of responding to the a missile test by Pakistan, said, ``I am more concerned about making sure that...President Musharraf shows results in terms of stopping people from crossing the Line of Control, stopping terrorism. That is what is more important than the missile testing.''

The Bush administration has also called on the leaders of India and Pakistan to stay away from impassioned rhetoric. A State Department official said ``we continue to urge for a reduction in tensions and the avoidance of conflict which we fear could spiral out of control. It is vital that Pakistani and Indian leaders carefully consider how their statements and actions contribute to heightening tensions. Impassioned rhetoric from either side is not helpful.''

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