Armitage said that he was correctly reported from India on this subject but he agreed that there have been instances of human rights violations in the occupied territory and he had discussed it with his "Indian friends" at New Delhi on Wednesday.
Addressing a joint but brief news conference with his host Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar here on Thursday, Armitage told a questioner that the prisoners taken during operations in Afghanistan and held at the Guantanamo Bay (Cuba) were being sent home by his government. "We are in this business now for quite sometime", he added.
He did not have the figures of those left at the Bay but said some of them belonged to Sweden and France and their cases were being screened.
Earlier, he opened his address to the media with a casual reference of subjects he had discussed with the Pakistani foreign secretary that included the views of Washington on "the questions of Iraq".
CONTRIBUTION OF TROOPS: He said he had briefed his host about what was being done by Washington in Iraq and had requested "my friend the foreign secretary" for the Pakistan government to make up its mind on those "matters". He volunteered the statement in answer to a question if he had asked Pakistan to contribute troops for peacekeeping in that country.
However, when later a newsman referred to the appointment of Ashraf Jehangir Qazi as the head of the UN outfit in Baghdad and wanted an assurance that the US will not resort to "arm twisting or pressure tactics" to contribute troops for "protection" in that country, Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar intervened to say that there was no "garb, no arm twisting and there is no request. So I think you should take it easy".
However, Armitage said he would have said "no" to the question as the US had nothing to do with the appointment of Ambassador Ashraf Jehangir Qazi as chief of the UN mission in Baghdad.
These selections, he said were completely the prerogative of UN Secretary General Kofi Anan and Ashraf Qazi's appointment was a tribute to the competence of the Pakistan Foreign Service. The UN Secretary General, Armitage pointed out, had selected Ashraf Qazi from a long list prepared by his staff.
The American diplomat arrived here late Wednesday night but had an early start on Thursday with an 8 am review of bilateral relations, situations in Afghanistan and Iraq, status of Pakistan-India composite dialogue and the joint campaign against terrorism with the Pakistani delegation at the Foreign Office.
Before starting his round of calls on Prime Minister Shujjaat Hussain, Foreign Minister Kasuri and Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, Deputy Secretary Armitage met with the media at the Foreign Office and confirmed that he had discussed with Indian leaders the situation in the Indian-held Kashmir.
He told a questioner that there was no question as to violation of human rights in the Indian-held Kashmir but it was during these discussions with his "Indian friends" that he noticed that not all the "terrorist camps" had been dismantled and he had been correctly reported on that.
Replying to another question about the reported "gaps" and also hurdles in the way of Pakistanis collecting information about the terrorists, Armitage said the question was discussed between him and Foreign Secretary Khokhar and Washington will do whatever it can to help further in this connection. His government, he pointed out already had given to Pakistan some helicopters and other equipment in this connection and "keeping in view 'our own security considerations', we have to see what more can be done."MILITARY ASSISTANCE: When asked if the designation of Islamabad as the Most Favoured non-Nato Ally would entitle it to get more advanced military assistance from the United States, Armitage said that Washington would certainly consider any request to meet the needs of the Pakistani armed forces.
He deflected a straight question about various statements of Zalmay Khalilzad, the Afghan-born American ambassador at Kabul, and assured a questioner that Washington had not given any "licence" to its representative in Afghanistan to make the statements he had been giving out about Pakistani contribution to the campaign against terror.
What Pakistan has done, he pointed out had however, been appreciated by the American leaders, including President George Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell.