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India demands Pakistan hand over terror suspects
I seem to remember a demand like this in Sept 2001.India picked up intelligence in recent months that terrorists were plotting attacks against Mumbai targets, an official said Tuesday, as the government demanded that Islamabad hand over suspected terrorists believed living in Pakistan. A list of about 20 people -- including India's most-wanted man -- was submitted to Pakistan's high commissioner to India on Monday night, said India's foreign minister, Pranab Mukherjee. India has already demanded Pakistan take "strong action" against those responsible for the attacks, and the U.S. has pressured Islamabad to cooperate in the investigation. America's chief diplomat, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, will visit India on Wednesday. Among the prisoners sought by India is Dawood Ibrahim -- a powerful gangster, the alleged mastermind of 1993 Mumbai bombings, and India's most-wanted man. Also included is Masood Azhar, a terror suspect freed from an Indian prison in exchange for the release of hostages aboard an Indian Airlines aircraft hijacked on Christmas Day 1999. Pakistan would consider India's request and respond after receiving the list, said Pakistani Information Minister Sherry Rehman. "We must try to dampen down the discourse of conflict and work toward regional peace," she said. While the cross-border rhetoric between Pakistan and India has increased since the attacks, both countries -- by their often-bellicose standards -- carefully refrained from making statements that could quickly lead to a buildup of troops along their already militarized frontier. In India, Pakistan's high commissioner met with foreign ministry officials late Monday and was told that "elements from Pakistan" had carried out the attacks. The commissioner was told that India "expects that strong action would be taken against those elements," said foreign ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash. ... Posted by: ed 2008-12-02 |
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