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News: U.S. lawmakers want Pakistan on terrorism list
WASHINGTON (Reuter) - Nineteen U.S. lawmakers have urged the
State Department to put Pakistan on its ``terrorism watch
list.''
In an Oct. 7 letter to President Clinton obtained by
Reuters, the lawmakers said in recent months there had been
''several ominous reports'' that required an immediate review.
``These developments strongly suggest that the State
Department's decision not to include Pakistan on the ``Watch
List'' of countries supporting terrorism is in need of immediate
review,'' they said, urging Clinton to direct Secretary of State
Warren Christopher to re-evaluate the 1993
decision.
``We firmly believe that our country cannot mount a credible
campaign to stop terrorism and narcotics trafficking so long as
the recent events regarding Pakistan are disregarded by the
State Department.''
No comment was immediately available from the State
Department.
The letter listed several issues of concern, including a
Sept. 12 report in The Washington Post that a chief of staff to
former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had developed a
blueprint for financing covert operations in other countries
though large-scale narcotics deals.
It also expressed concern about recent reports that the
prime suspect in the March 12, 1993 bombing of the Bombay Stock
Exchange told investigators the Pakistani Inter Services
Intelligence (ISI) had planned and financed the attack.
The lawmakers also said Indian security forces had
confiscated large amounts of weapons which could be traced to
arms markets in Pakistan and that numerous Pakistani nationals
captured had confessed to being trained, supported and directed
by ISI personnel from camps in Pakistan.
The letter was signed by Rep. Eliot Engel, D-NY, Rep.
Fortney Pete Stark, D-Ca., Rep. Nita Lowey, D-NY, Rep. Frank
Pallone, Jr., D-NJ, Rep. Thomas Manton, D-NY, Rep. Maurice
Hinchey, D-NY, Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., Rep. Jim McDermott,
D-Wash., Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Ca., Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-NY,
Rep. Eric Fingerhut, D-Ohio, Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Rep.
Larry LaRocco, D-Idaho, Rep. David Price, D-NC, Rep. Christopher
Shays, R-Conn., Rep. Deborah PRyce, R-Ohio, Rep. Peter Deutsch,
D-Fla., Rep. Don Johnson, D-Ga.
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