The defence committee of the cabinet (DCC), chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said in a nine-point statement the ``DCC therefore decided that Pakistan should appeal to the mujahideen to help resolve the current Kargil situation... ''

The appeal, which mujahideen groups have said they will reject, followed a weekend meeting in Washington between Sharif and US President Bill Clinton which agreed that ``concrete steps'' would be taken to defuse the crisis.

The DCC statement linked the appeal to Clinton's pledge to take a ``personal interest'' in kick-starting stalled Indo-Pak peace talks, a commitment which India sees as mediation, something it steadfastly rejects.

``The committee considered it a significant development as this is the first time that the US has agreed to play such a role inthe search for the final settlement of the Kashmir dispute,'' the statement said. ``The DCC took the view that Pakistan's objective of focusing international attention on the Kashmir issue and securing US involvement with the process for the settlement had been achieved,'' the statement said.

It said `help' from Kashmiri militants would `provide an opportunity to the international community to play an active role for the realisation of the legitimate aspirations of the Kashmiri people and to promote peace and development in South Asia'.

The statement made no linkage between any withdrawal and willingness by India to resume peace talks. Foreign minister Sartaz Aziz made the connection in a series of interviews with western media this week.

The militants see the weekend pact as a sellout of their 10-year guerrilla campaign and a U-turn by a government which has backed their `armed struggle' to get India to agree to a UN Plebiscite in the region. The statement made no mention of a cease-fire. India allegesthe Mujahideen are backed by Pakistan army regulars, however Islamabad denies this.

Nor did the statement mention any contacts between the directors general of military operations in India and Pakistan to discuss a cease-fire, a step which the experts say would be the first phase of any orderly withdrawal.

No way, say ultras

ISLAMABAD: A broad framework for a possible withdrawal of infiltrators from Kargil has been drawn up by a high-level meeting, chaired by Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif, but a final decision would only be taken after a full Cabinet meeting on Saturday, media reports said here today.

KARACHI: Two Muslim militant groups on Friday rejected a thinly veiled government appeal to withdraw from Kargil area under a Pakistani-US agreement. There was no immediate word from a 15-group umbrella organisation for militants fighting Indian troops in Jammu and Kashmir, but two of its members said they would fight on.