- UNITED NATIONS (Reuters)
- Islamabad is worried that India may take advantage of any U.S.-led military
assault on Iraq to quietly attack Pakistan, Pakistan's ambassador to the
United Nations said on Monday.
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- "A lot of our friends have asked about what would
happen if there is an attack on Iraq by an international coalition. I think
a more relevant question is what would happen if India were to take a pre-emptive
strike on Pakistan. That is our fear," envoy Munir Akram said.
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- He was responding to a reporter who asked at a media
luncheon whether Pakistan feared it might be destabilized by a U.S.-led
invasion of Iraq.
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- Akram said India might be tempted to time an attack on
Pakistan to coincide with an assault on Iraq because Washington, the main
mediator in the dispute over Kashmir, would be distracted by the situation
in Baghdad.
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- But asked if Islamabad were taking precautions against
such a possibility or discussing it with Washington or others, Akram referred
questions to Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, who is due in
New York on Thursday to address the U.N. General Assembly.
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- Diplomats at India's U.N. mission had no immediate comment
on Akram's remarks.
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- India and Pakistan have massed a million soldiers along
their border since a December attack on the Indian parliament blamed by
New Delhi on Pakistan-based guerrillas.
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- India accuses Pakistan of arming and training Islamic
militants who then slip over the border into Kashmir to stage attacks on
Indian targets. Pakistan denies the charges.
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