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CNN Live At Daybreak

Rumsfeld in Pakistan

Aired June 13, 2002 - 06:51   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is in Pakistan now, and as part of his efforts to ease tensions between that country and its nuclear neighbor, India, he is talking to officials over there. And of course, the dispute between India and Pakistan is over Kashmir.

We want to go live now to Pakistan to check in with Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.

So does Donald Rumsfeld still believe there are al Qaeda terrorists in Kashmir?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, the secretary has just concluded a press conference here in Islamabad with the Pakistani foreign minister. He was asked that question again, as he was in New Delhi yesterday. The secretary of defense said he has seen reports, intelligence reports. He calls it lots of scraps of information that people in that region are saying they have seen al Qaeda in the region. Now, we don't know whether these are Arab al Qaeda, Kashmirans possibly training or having trained in al Qaeda camps.

So the secretary says there are secondhand reports. He can't verify how many or where they are.

He has wrapped up his trip here through the Asian subcontinent today with meetings with the Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf. And the readout that we have is the Pakistanis are saying, look, India has made some conciliatory gestures on Kashmir. We understand that, and we take that on board.

But the Pakistanis here today are saying that's not enough. They want to see some of those troops, some of those Indian troops withdrawn from the line of control in Kashmir. There are still more than one million Indian and Pakistani forces facing off across that line of control in Kashmir. And what the Pakistanis are saying here today in Islamabad is they still feel that India could mass troops and threaten them.

And the secretary of defense has responded to this by saying he understands their concerns. He says the situation on the ground in Kashmir has not positively (ph) changed. There are still a lot of troops up there. The tensions are easing politically between the two countries, but the effort now is in large part going to be to try and get some of those troops to pull back -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Did they touch on the topic at all of U.S. monitors there?

STARR: That, Carol, is a subject that was broached first in New Delhi yesterday with Indian leader, Mr. Vajpayee, and it was brought up here again today. They are hoping they can find some type of electronic monitoring technology that would help monitor the situation. It would find a way to keep an eye and make sure that there are no infiltrators from Pakistan-Kashmir into the Indian portion of Kashmir, which of course, has been the major controversy in this region.

But U.S. officials warn that that's a very difficult technological challenge. They are going to try and have some meetings with some technical experts, with the Indians, with the Pakistanis, and see if they can find some type of technology that might work.

COSTELLO: All right. Barbara Starr reporting live from Islamabad this morning -- thank you very much.

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