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Powell expects more action against terrorists from Musharraf

United States Secretary of State Colin Powell has said that he expects Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to take more action against terrorist organisations operating from within Pakistan.

"I think Pakistan has done a great deal since this crisis started on the 13th December, first by arresting the leaders of the two terrorist organisations - Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Tayiba - most closely linked to being the perpetrators of this act."

"Pakistan has also arrested a number of other individuals who might be associated with terrorist activities. So they have done quite a bit," Powell told BBC on Friday.

"But beyond just arresting people, I think President Musharraf has made a number of bold statements with respect to moderation and going after extremist elements within Pakistani society. So he has done quite a bit and I expect him to do more. I expect him to make other statements when he gets back from the SAARC meeting in Kathmandu," Powell said.

He also said he was encouraged by India's restraint despite the mobilisation of forces and added he knew how shocked India was by this horrible attack against its democracy, where the terrorists came in to try to destroy the leadership of the democratic nation.

"I also take note that the prime minister of India is anxious to find a political and diplomatic solution, as he has said almost every day in the past week," Powell added.

On allegations that the US was being hypocratic in its war against terror by going into Afghanistan to wipe out the Taliban, while adopting a different approach vi-a-vis Indian efforts, Powell said, "What we are saying to the Indians and the Pakistanis is that there are other ways to solve this problem."

"And one way that we are all working toward now is to get the Pakistani government to take action against these terrorist organisations, and President Musharraf is doing so".

Powell avoided a direct reply when asked whether Pakistan was supporting terror even before the attack on the Indian Parliament.

Complete Coverage: The Attack on Parliament

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