WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday that its campaign against terrorism will pursue Kashmiri militants as well as the al Qaeda group blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
President Bush said last month the campaign would target all ``terrorist'' groups with global reach, but U.S. officials have been reluctant to identify groups other than al Qaeda, which is led by Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking after talks with Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, condemned a suicide car bombing that killed at least 38 people in the Indian-ruled part of Kashmir on Monday. India accused Pakistan of aiding the attackers. (Read photo caption)
Singh, briefing reporters later, said he was confident that the United States would fulfill its promise.
But the minister also cast grave doubts on the wisdom of Washington seeking Pakistani support against al Qaeda.
In Washington, Singh also had talks with national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Bush dropped in during his talks with Rice. He said he would leave later on Tuesday for Britain and Germany.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Secretary of State Colin Powell, accompanied by Indian Defense Minister Jaswant Singh, answers a reporter's question after their meeting at the State Department in Washington Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2001. Powell called a car bombing outside the Indian legislature an act of terrorism. Indian leaders, meanwhile, blamed the explosion on Pakistan, a nation crucial to the U.S. campaign against terrorism. (AP Photo/Joe Marquette)