Signs Indicating Al-Qaeda Terrorist Activity in Kashmir

Donald Rumsfeld, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, met today in Islamabad with President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan and other senior officials as part of U.S. efforts to resolve the deadlock between Pakistan and India. The main focus of the discussions was the Kashmir issue and efforts to prevent terrorist attacks. Mr. Rumsfeld expressed gratitude to General Musharraf for his extraordinary cooperation in the anti-terrorism war. The U.S. Defense Secretary reiterated that the U.S. does not have direct evidence of the presence and activities of Al-Qaeda operatives in the disputed Kashmir region, but he added that U.S. intelligence services have received reports suggesting that Al-Qaeda members may be active in the area. A spokesperson for the President of Pakistan denied the presence of Al-Qaeda members in Kashmir. Mr. Rumsfeld also held discussions with senior Indian officials in New Delhi on Wednesday. He stated that during his talks with these officials, he raised the use of American electronic surveillance devices to monitor militants based in Pakistan who infiltrate into Indian-controlled Kashmir. The divided Kashmir remains the main subject of rivalry and conflict between these two nuclear powers of South Asia, which have deployed over a million soldiers along their shared borders.