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Rice Increases Pressure on Pakistan
 U.S. pressure on Pakistan to act against terror groups behind last week's deadly attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai reached a new peak Thursday as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited this country and urged its leaders to move forcefully and quickly against those linked to the assaults.Rice, who met with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and other officials near the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, said Pakistan has agreed to cooperate and share information with India about those involved in the assaults in Mumbai. Calling the fight against terrorist elements in the region a "global struggle," Rice said that both India and Pakistan are prepared to work together to root out the perpetrators of the attacks. "Pakistan is very committed to this war on terror and does not in any way want to be associated with terrorism elements and is, indeed, committed to rooting them out wherever they find them," Rice said. Rice's visit to Pakistan followed a trip to India on Wednesday and came on the heels of a visit to Pakistan by Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mullen met with several Pakistani military and government officials, including Lt. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate. Like Rice, Mullen emphasized the need to "aggressively" pursue those responsible for the massacre in Mumbai. ad_icon Rice arrived in the region as Indian authorities detailed new revelations about the 10 gunmen involved in the three-day siege that injured nearly 300 and killed at least 174, including six Americans. Indian police officials said this week that evidence gleaned partially from records of a satellite phone and GPS tracking device left behind by the attackers showed that the gunmen made several calls to the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi before sailing from there to Mumbai. Additional calls to Karachi were made during their rampage across the city. Posted by: Fred 2008-12-05 |
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