(AKI) - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has appealed to India not to punish his country for last week's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, saying militants have the power to precipitate a war in the region. In an interview with the British Financial Times newspaper, Zardari urged Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to resist any attack if speculation confirmed the militants came from Pakistan."Even if the militants are linked to Lashkar-e-Toiba, who do you think we are fighting?" asked Zardari.
We're not too sure, actually, since Hafiz Saeed's not in jug.
Pakistan is
"We live in troubled times where non-state actors have taken us to war before, whether it is the case of those who perpetrated the 9/11 attacks on the United States or contributed to the escalation of the situation in Iraq," said Zardari. "Now, events in Mumbai tell us that there are ongoing efforts to carry out copycat attacks by militants. We must all stand together to fight out this menace," he said.
New Delhi was facing growing criticism over its failure to anticipate the attacks and its response. The chief minister of the Indian state of Maharashtra has offered to resign amid criticism of the handling of the Mumbai attacks. Vilasrao Deshmukh said he was awaiting a Congress party decision. His deputy, RR Patil, has already resigned.