President Gen. Pervez Musharraf promised on Monday to crack down on a Pakistani-based Islamic group if his government finds evidence to support US claims that it aids terrorism. President George W. Bush on Friday added the Lashkar-e-Taiba to a US list of terrorist groups. Washington asked Pakistan to ban the group and freeze its assets.

"If we find evidence of it, we would like to move against them," said Musharraf, who was visiting the southern commercial center of Guangdong province on the final day of an official trip to China. India accuses Lashkar-e-Taiba of supporting a Dec. 13 attack on the Indian parliament building that killed 15 people. Musharraf`s government has denied Indian accusations that its military intelligence service also aided the attack.

"We are already taking measures to move against all groups who are involved in any form of terrorism anywhere in the world," Musharraf said, without giving any details.

The Pakistani leader is in China on a visit meant to reassure Chinese leaders that their decades-old alliance is sound, despite his government`s growing ties with Washington in the war on terror.
Bureau Report