The U.S. now believes that a terrorist group supported by the Pakistani military was responsible for the hijacking of an Indian Airlines jet last month, a judgment that puts Pakistan at risk of being placed on Washington_s list of nations that support ter

The new military leader of Pakistan, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, was asked in a meeting with three administration officials in Islamabad last week to ban the group, Harkat ul-Mujahedeen, but the request was rebuffed, senior U.S. officials said. Musharraf was also asked to exert pressure on the Taliban government in Afghanistan, with which Pakistan has friendly relations, to expel Osama bin Ladin, who is suspected in the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa, but no progress was made with this request either, the officials said. The conclusion that a terrorist group supported by Pakistan carried out the hijacking comes as the White House must make a decision in coming weeks about whether President Clinton should visit Pakistan as part of his planned trip to India and Bangladesh at the end of March. The visit to India is expected to be announced this week, with the option of a stopover in Pakistan still open, pending some gestures of cooperation by Pakistan, officials said. Rejecting a presidential visit to Pakistan during a trip that includes a visit to India would be one of the severest snubs the White House could make, especially during the first presidential trip to the region in 21 years. Information that Harkat ul-Mujahedeen was responsible for the hijacking came in the aftermath of the seizure of the jet, when it became clearer who made arrangements for the escape of the hijackers, administration officials said. The question of Pakistan_s role in the hijacking has already inflamed relations between India and Pakistan, which both possess nuclear bombs. Shortly after the hijacking, India accused Pakistan of masterminding the plot and said it had evidence to back up its claims. But the Indian government has yet to produce the evidence. Relations between the two countries have plummeted to their lowest point in decades. Overlaying the heightened tensions are the activities of the terrorist groups in Pakistan.