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Murder of soldiers 'disturbing': US

C K Arora in Washington

The Bill Clinton administration has described as 'disturbing' the reports that Pakistan has turned over six mutilated bodies of Indian soldiers. It said the United States is seeking more information to get at the truth.

Replying to a question yesterday, state department spokesman James Foley said, ''I would note that Pakistan has denied these reports. We don't, for our part, have independent information on the reports and, therefore, can offer no judgement.''

He, however, said the incident ''did underscore the urgency of the need for India and Pakistan to speak directly with each other about the current hostilities in Kashmir. As you know, Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Mr Sartaj Aziz, will visit New Delhi (today) for talks on the fighting in the Kargil sector.''

Foley said the United States strongly supported talks between India and Pakistan to resolve this latest dispute. ''We remain in contact with both the Indian and Pakistani governments to express our strong concern, to urge them to show restraint and to respect the Line of Control that they agreed to over 25 years ago.

''We also urge them to prevent the fighting from spreading beyond the Kargil sector and to work together to reduce tensions,'' he added.

Earlier, giving an update on the current situation, he said, ''The Indian air and ground attacks continued in the Kargil area of Kashmir, against infiltrators from Pakistan. India continues to report the capture of some strong points.''

UNI

The Kargil Crisis

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