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Clinton may call off visit: LA Times

US President Bill Clinton's trip to India may be cancelled in the wake of the hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight, the Los Angeles Times quoting senior officials today reported.

The daily said the hijacking ''by Muslim militants is likely to have political repercussions across South Asia and could even quash President Clinton's plans to visit the region next year...''

It quoted officials as saying that the timing of the hijacking could not have come at a worse time and is the third successive incident damaging the most promising prospect for peace talks in the ''volatile sub-continent.''

The heavy fighting in Kashmir between May and July and the October coup against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by General Pervez Musharraf, the man India regards as the main architect of Pakistani intervention in Kashmir, were the other two incidents that have undermined peace prospects, according to the paper.

The White House planned a trip for Clinton to India and Pakistan about two years ago but kept postponing it for domestic and foreign reasons.

Meanwhile, support for India's position on the hijacking grew today with another senior US leader denouncing it in the severest of terms.

Senator Harry Reid, Assistant Democratic Leader in the US Senate, soundly criticised the hijacking and said he ''strongly supported'' the Indian government in its efforts to release the hostages.

''The hijacking of the Indian Airlines jet and murder of an innocent civilian are reprehensible acts of lawlessness and must be condemned by the international community,'' he said.

Senator Reid, who will be part of a Congressional delegation trip to six countries including India early next year, said he expects to raise the issue of multilateral cooperation to combat terrorism in his talks with India and other nation.

UNI

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