Pakistan missile test as Straw arrives

Pakistan defiantly test-fired another short-range missile today as Foreign Secretary Jack Straw arrived in the country on a mission to avert all-out war with India.

Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, gave the go-ahead for the testing of the Abdali missile, which is capable of delivering nuclear warheads to a target 100 miles away, allowing it to hit border positions inside India where nearly one million soldiers are massed.

As Mr Straw arrived in Islamabad, he faced an intensely difficult task of persuading the leader to show restraint at a time when diplomacy appears to be having little effect.

Last night, to the dismay of the international community, General Musharraf delivered a bellicose speech, televised to the nation, in which he championed the cause of Islamic militants and warned that his army would "shed the last drop of blood" to defend his country.

Instead of showing signs of combating extremism, he supported the "liberation struggle" in Kashmir, which has led the two nuclear neighbours to the brink of war.

Mr Straw was also expected to face questions today over Britain's "ethical" foreign policy as Downing Street was caught up in confusion over whether or not the Government has banned arms sales to India and Pakistan.

Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt banned all arms export licences to the countries last week amid concern it could fuel a war, but Downing Street, worried that it could jeopardise a £1billion deal with British Aerospace to sell Hawk jets to India - insisted yesterday that it was not a blanket embargo but being done on a case-by-case basis.

However, Downing Street is also worried that reports of a complete embargo might seem very heavy-handed, and actually damage Mr Straw's peace mission.

Mr Straw, who has admitted that he has no firm deal to propose to either country, used chilling terms to describe the risks now facing the two countries. The crisis stems back to last December when the Indian parliament was attacked by extremists.

In a speech he made last night in Berlin before setting out for Islambad, Mr Straw said: "Whilst we cannot be precise, the risks are all too easy to describe: Death, destruction, disease, economic collapse - affecting not just the immediate war theatre, but many parts of the subcontinent and lasting for years."

Meanwhile, India's defence minister claimed today that fighters from Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda group and Taliban troops from Afghanistan are just across the border in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

"We have information that the number of terrorists who are on the other side of the border are people who have fled from Afghanistan, al Qaeda men and Talibanis," Defence Minister George Fernandes said in a television interview.

A senior Indian security official in Kashmir said that intelligence on the presence of al Qaeda fighters in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir has been available since the collapse of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

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