Bush Discusses India with Diplomats, Security Team

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WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush held an hour long video-teleconference Saturday with U.S. diplomats in India following the terror rampage that left six Americans dead and raised tensions with neighboring Pakistan.

Bush held the secured video meeting from the Camp David presidential retreat where he spent Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday. He planned a brief statement about the attacks upon his return to the White House later Saturday.

Those participating in the session included Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; David Mulford, the U.S. ambassador to India; Paul Folmsbee, consul general at the U.S. consulate in Mumbai; and members of Bush's national security team.

``President Bush thanked our ambassador and our consul general for all the work they've done to help Americans affected by the terrorists,'' White House press secretary Dana Perino said.

President-elect Barack Obama called Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday night to offer condolences and was monitoring the situation. Obama takes office in January.

The siege, which killed at least 195 people, including 18foreigners, in India's financial capital, ended Saturday when commandos killed the last three gunmen inside a luxury hotel.

A previously unknown Muslim group with a name suggesting origins inside India claimed responsibility, but Indian officials said the sole surviving gunman was from Pakistan and they pointed a finger of blame at their neighbor and rival.

The U.S. is concerned about a potential flare-up between India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed countries. To ease tensions, intelligence officials are searching for clues that might identify the attackers even as Indian officials claim ``elements in Pakistan'' were involved. FBI agents were dispatched to India. A second group of investigators was on alert to join the first team if necessary. The State Department warned U.S. citizens still in the city that their lives remain at risk.

A U.S. counterterrorism official said some ``signatures of the attack'' were consistent with the work of Pakistani militant groups known as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed that have fought Indian troops in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir and are reported to be linked to al-Qaida. But the official emphasized it was premature to pinpoint who was responsible for the attacks.

A second official, specializing in counterintelligence, also cautioned against rushing to judgment on the origins of the gunmen. The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.

``There were very worrying tensions in the region,'' said Gordon Duguid, a State Department spokesman.


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