December 29, 2001	Saturday	Shawwal 13, 1422

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WASHINGTON, Dec 28: President George Bush on Friday lent support to the Musharraf government’s efforts to crackdown on extremists within Pakistan and suggested that India should take note of these efforts.

Talking to reporters at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he is taking a holiday break, Mr Bush said General Musharraf had arrested 50 extremists and India should take good note of the fact.

Mr Bush’s remarks have come amidst statements by several Indian officials that Pakistan has not done enough to take action against extremists New Delhi accuses of being involved in militant activity against India and in Kashmir. Devaluing these attempts, India has been threatening action against Pakistan, and both countries have massed troops on their borders.

But Mr Bush praised Pakistan for responding positively and forcefully to India’s request for action against extremists and extremist organizations. He said he was “very pleased” by Gen Musharraf’s response.

The president said the India-Pakistan standoff was discussed by the National Security Council, and secretary of state Colin Powell had talked to the leaders in New Delhi and Islamabad again on Friday. The United States was urging restraint on both sides, Mr Bush said.

Mr Bush described as highly speculative reports about the fate of Osama bin Laden and that the Al Qaeda leader might be in Pakistan. He said all he could say was that if Osama were alive, “he is on the run” and would be found. Gen Musharraf, Mr Bush said, had been “very helpful in all matters”, and the general would also help if Osama was in Pakistan. “We are not going to stop trying to locate him (Osama)” and his associates.

Mr Bush, who was flanked by General Tommy Franks, head of the central command that has overall responsibility of the Afghan operation, said the US was going to be in Afghanistan “for a while”.

Earlier, on Thursday, defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld was also dismissive of reports that Osama was in Pakistan.

Asked at his regular Pentagon briefing (partly reported in Friday’s Dawn) to comment on Afghan defence ministry claims that Osama had escaped to Pakistan and was under the protection of JUI chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Mr Rumsfeld had said: “We hear six, seven, eight, ten, twelve conflicting reports every day. I’ve stopped chasing them. We do know of certain knowledge that he (Osama) is either in Afghanistan, or in some other country, or dead. And we know of certain knowledge that we don’t know which of those happens to be the case.”

A spokesman for the defence ministry of the interim Afghan administration was reported to have said that according to intelligence reports Osama was being sheltered by Maulana Fazlur Rahman and was trying to regroup his forces. The JUI is seen as among the biggest patrons of the Taliban. A report on Friday again asserted that the Al Qaeda leader had escaped to Pakistan with a large amount of money.

Mr Rumsfeld expressed concern at the stand-off between Pakistan and India and described the situation as obviously a “difficult and tense one”. He pointed out that President Bush and secretary Powell and other officials had been working with the government of both countries to bring down the tension.

But Mr Rumsfeld did not believe that the hostility with India had so far prompted Pakistan to divert troops from its operations on the border with Afghanistan. He said Pakistan had “not yet moved forces and that is very encouraging to us...(That) is clearly a deterrent to people trying to come across, trying to escape from Afghanistan.”

However, the defence secretary did point out that if tensions between India and Pakistan worsened, the US could have “problems with air overflights” and protection for American troops at bases in Pakistan would have to be enhanced.

Pakistan has several battalions along the Pakistan- Afghanistan border, and about a third of Pakistan’s air space is said to be in use by the US since September 11.

Asked whether Osama would be more difficult to apprehend if he managed to escape to Pakistan, Mr Rumsfeld said: “We have found the Pakistani government to just be very cooperative in so many things that I have trouble believing it would be a problem at all.”

DETAINEES: Pakistani forces turned over 20 Afghan detainees to US authorities on Wednesday and another 25 on Friday. The total number of Afghans now in US custody is believed to be over five dozen. There is a possibility that the detainees might be moved to the US naval base in Guantanamo, Cuba.

Bowing to pressure from civil rights groups, the US government has meanwhile modified its proposals for military tribunals that it wants to establish to try foreigners believed to be engaged in terrorism.

Suspects brought before the tribunals will be considered innocent till proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, will be sentenced to death only by a unanimous vote of the tribunal members although a guilty verdict can be rendered by two-thirds of the officers constituting a tribunal, and will have the right to appeal.

On Friday, Mr Bush said the modalities for the military tribunals were still being worked out.