Information minister Mushahid Hussain, along with Punjab province governor Shahid Hamid and other provincial ministers, visited the headquarters of Lashkar-e-Taiba (army of the pure) in Muridke, about 30 km from Lahore, a couple of days ago and expressed appreciation for the work of the organisation, media reports said. Hussain not only hailed the activities of Markaz Dawa Al Irshad (centre for preaching), which trains and maintains Lashkar-e-Taiba, but also said the true concept of Islamic jehad (holy war) was being taught by the Markaz, Urdu daily `Khabren' said.

Asked whether his visit to the Markaz was aimed at conveying a strong message to India, Hussain reportedly replied, ``The message has already been conveyed on April six,'' referringto the test firing of the Ghauri missile.The BBC also took note of Hussain's visit, describing it as ``extraordinary'' as Lashkar-e-Taiba has been claiming responsibility for militant activities in the Kashmir Valley. This is the first visit to the Markaz headquarters by a senior Pakistan minister in the last 10 years of its existence.

Pakistan has always been rejecting India's allegations about its involvement in militant activities in the Kashmir Valley, stressing it was providing only ``moral, political and diplomatic'' support to ``Kashmiris' struggle for freedom''.

Markaz chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, said during Hussain's visit such trips by high-level government representatives would remove all misconceptions about the organisation.

He virtually confirmed Markaz's involvement in militancy in Kashmir saying ``after the liberation of Kashmir'', his organisation would launch a jehad (holy war) for the liberation of 20 crore Indian Muslims who he claimed had been living ``a second and thirdgrade life''. Hussain was quoted by another Urdu daily Pakistan as saying his visit to the Markaz had strengthened his Islamic faith and that the way they were promoting jehad must be appreciated.

Only a couple of months ago, leading monthly magazine Herald had carried a cover story on the activities of Markaz in which it had said the organisation was regularly imparting arms training to students and then sending them to Kashmir to fight the Indian Army.