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U.S.
Considering Possible Evacuation from India, Pakistan
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Rumsfeld
confirmed Bush is planning to send him to Pakistan and India.
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WASHINGTON,
May 30 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - President George W. Bush
said Thursday that the United States was assessing how to protect
Americans should war erupt between India and Pakistan, as reports said
diplomats were laying the groundwork for an evacuation.
Bush
said Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld were involved in the effort to work out how best to bring
U.S. expatriates, students, tourists and business executives home.
"Both
secretaries are analyzing what it would take to protect American lives
if need be," Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted Bush as saying at
a cabinet meeting.
Rumsfeld
later said no decisions have been to evacuate non-combatants in the
face of rising tensions in the region, but said estimates of the
number of Americans in the two countries -- more than 60,000 by some
reports -- were low.
"It
is a big job," he said. "For the most part, people would
have to get out on their own."
Earlier,
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer stopped short of explicitly
confirming a USA Today report that U.S. officials were in India to
plan the possible evacuation of 1,100 U.S. troops plus U.S. citizens
from India and Pakistan amid tension over Kashmir.
"The
United States, as a matter of routine, has plans in place around the
world -- particularly in areas in the world where there is tension --
to help protect American citizens," said Fleischer.
"That's
to be expected and you can assume we have plans in place as well in
that area of tension," he said. "There are plans in place
and they always get renewed looks any time of increased tension."
State
Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Wednesday, May 29, that
embassies always worked on contingency plans to ensure the safety of
Americans.
"The
embassies are looking at that as part of prudent planning,"
Boucher said.
Fleischer
noted that the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and U.S. consulates in
Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar were "open for business," even
though non-essential personnel were ordered out March 21.
The
United States last Friday warned its citizens to defer travel to India
and Pakistan, saying it could not rule out a military clash in
tension-wracked South Asia.
The
Department also advised U.S. nationals still in India and Pakistan to
consider leaving, as tensions flare between the two bitter rivals,
which have sparked fears of the world's first nuclear war.
U.S.
citizens in Pakistan were reminded that there have already been
attacks on their compatriots in the country since Washington launched
its war on Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks.
Those
include a March 17 attack on a church which killed the wife and
step-daughter of a U.S. diplomat and the kidnapping and murder of U.S.
journalist Daniel Pearl who worked for The Wall Street Journal.
A
senior U.S. official, meanwhile, said that the United States was
expected to implement an "authorized departure" program for
its personnel in India, allowing non-essential diplomats and the
families of government employees to leave the country at Washington's
expense.
"It
just makes sense," the official told AFP on condition of
anonymity.
"That
way, if we have to move to an ordered departure, a lot of people will
be gone already," the official said, referring to a higher
priority program now in place for diplomats and their families in
neighboring Pakistan.
"I
would not be surprised if an announcement came soon, either later
today [Thursday, May 30] or Friday."
A
decision on the move would be made by Powell in consultation with the
Embassy in New Delhi.
Fleischer
also warned that "a war in that region will not serve either
country's purposes, short-term or long-term" and that Bush had
made easing the tension "a top priority."
"The
President will continue to urge additional actions and ongoing actions
by Pakistan as well as by India to reduce the tensions," added
the spokesman.
"The
United States will remain diplomatically engaged at senior levels.
It's an ongoing point of concern and we'll remain on top of it,"
he pledged.
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