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| Sunday, 26 May 2002 |
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U.S.
warns against travel to India, Pakistan
WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) - Citing tensions along the borders of Kashmir, the U.S. State Department on Friday urged Americans to put off travel to Pakistan and India and said any U.S. citizens still there should consider leaving. The United States has urged both sides to show restraint in deploying missiles and any other nuclear weapons, but Pakistan was set to begin a series of missile tests on Saturday. "Tensions between India and Pakistan have risen to serious levels, and the risk of intensified military hostilities cannot be ruled out," the State Department said in a statement. "Virtually all land and air links with India are closed. Military movements continue along both the Line of Control in Kashmir and the border between India and Pakistan. Artillery firing along the Line of Control has caused death and injury in that area." It noted that Americans could be targeted, especially with the war being waged in Afghanistan. "This was demonstrated by the March 17 attack on worshipers at a church service in Islamabad, where two Americans were killed and several more were injured, as well as the brutal kidnapping and murder of an American journalist in Karachi in early 2002," the statement said, a reference to Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl. Clubs, restaurants, places of worship, schools and outdoor recreation events could all be dangerous places, the warning said. Nonessential U.S. embassy personnel were evacuated from Pakistan on March 22. A second warning urged U.S. citizens to consider leaving India and asked any remaining to register with a U.S. embassy or consulate. India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Kashmir, now split between the two south Asian nations. Alarm bells have been ringing around the world at the threat of another war. |
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