SONIA RUSELER, CNN ANCHOR: Top U.S. officials, including President Clinton, say they have no evidence that Pakistan's government was involved in last month's hijacking of an Indian Airways jet. CNN's national security correspondent David Ensor has been following this. David?</s>DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sonia, U.S. officials say they have reason to believe the hijackers of the Indian Airlines jet last month may be affiliated with a radical Kashmiri nationalist group that Western diplomats say has in the past received weapons and operational support from Pakistanis intelligence officials. At recent meetings in Islamabad, Assistant Secretary of State Karl Inderfurth asked Pakistan to outlaw the group, which is fighting for Kashmiri independence. The Pakistani approach to the Harcat Ul-Mujahadin (ph) group is of particular interest just now in Washington because the White House is planning this week to announce a trip to India in spring by President Clinton, and a stop in Pakistan is under consideration. Officials say they have been hoping for anti-terrorist gestures in the mean time from Islamabad. However, U.S. officials are pouring cold water on a newspaper report under a headline saying Pakistan backed the hijacking.</s>WILLIAM J. CLINTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, we don't. We do not, no. I guess the simplest thing I can tell you is that we do not have evidence that the Pakistani government was in any way involved in that hijacking. We don't.</s>ENSOR: The report, by saying the U.S. now believes the Harcat Ul-Mujahadin group was responsible for the hijacking also went too far, a U.S. senior official told CNN. That's where the fingers point, the official said, but, quote, "We cannot be definitive."
U.S. Officials: Hijackers of Indian Airlines Jet May Be Affiliated With Radical Kashmiri Nationalist Group