Militant groups say training camps have been shut down

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Islamic militants fighting Indian rule in Kashmir insisted Friday that Pakistan already has closed their training camps -- a key demand of India before it moves to defuse tensions over the disputed region.

"We were asked to vacate camps in the Pakistan part of Kashmir in January and the process has already been completed," a senior commander of the Islamic militant Lashkar-e-Tayyaba told The Associated Press.

He said the order to shut down the camps came after President Pervez Musharraf banned Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and four other Islamic militant groups in January, following an attack on the Indian parliament in New Delhi.

That attack triggered a military buildup along the border between the two rival nations.

"Now, we have no such camps," said the commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "As far as I know, the training camps of all other groups have also been closed. The decision is, of course, a betrayal."

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has refused to meet Musharraf until he is convinced the Pakistanis have cracked down on the insurgents.

It was impossible to confirm the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba commander's claims. Training camps are deep in the remote mountain forests of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, where movements are restricted.