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Bush condemns terrorist attack in Kolkata

T V Parasuram in Washington

United States President George W Bush has condemned Tuesday's terrorist attack on the United States Information Service office in Kolkata and said, "All countries must work together to fight off terrorists to ensure people's safety."

Bush told reporters during a trip to West Virginia that he was not sure if the attack -- in which no Americans were killed or injured -- was targeted at the US or provoked by a grievance against local police.

"We're gathering more information about it, to find out exactly what the facts are. Terror is terror, however -- it doesn't matter whether it's an attack on us or an attack on other people. You have got to work together to fight off terrorists," he said.

Meanwhile, officials said Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke to External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf hours after the attack amid fears of rise in tension between India and Pakistan.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, "As far as who exactly was responsible for this, we don't know at this point."

However, he added that US officials had learnt that police and local newspapers had received claims that the attack was targeted at those guarding the centre in revenge for actions by West Bengal authorities against a group on the India-Bangladesh border.

On Powell's calls to Musharraf and Singh, Boucher said, "They were in the context of his (Powell's) efforts to ease tension between India and Pakistan following his trip to the region last week."

He said that they were not prompted by a need to immediately cool Indo-Pak tension.

"Obviously the phone call to Foreign Minister Singh today was ... a little more to the issue of the attack today and our condolences and our thanks to the Indian police for protecting our facility," he said.

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