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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistani PM vows to punish anyone proved to blame for Mumbai attacks |
| 2009-01-06 |
| Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Monday his government remained committed to punishing Pakistani nationals accused of taking part in the Mumbai attacks if "credible" evidence is given against them. Gilani made the comments during talks with Richard Boucher, the US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, who arrived in Islamabad early Monday in a bid to defuse simmering tensions between Pakistan and India. Gilani spoke of "Pakistan's persistent efforts to defuse the current tensions with India, and his government's commitment to take action against any Pakistani national in case credible evidence is provided," his office said. Earlier Monday, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that New Delhi had handed over to Islamabad what it said was evidence linking the Islamic militants who carried out the late November attacks to "elements in Pakistan." Pakistan said it had received the dossier and was reviewing it. New Delhi has blamed the attacks - which left 172 people dead, including nine of the gunmen - on the banned Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is fighting Indian rule in divided Kashmir. Islamabad had repeatedly said that India had not provided any evidence linking the Mumbai attackers with Pakistan. Mukherjee said the Indian dossier included details of the interrogation of Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman - also known as Mohammad Ajmal Kasab - who is the lone surviving gunman and whom India says is a Pakistani national. It also details the militants' communications with "elements" in Pakistan during the attack, recovered weapons and other equipment, retrieved global positioning system data and satellite phones. A number of US officials have visited both Pakistan and India, including US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her deputy John Negroponte, following the attacks in a bid to defuse tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. Boucher, who arrived in Pakistan early Monday, also met with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and President Asif Ali Zardari, who gave him an award for his "service to Pakistan." Zardari said Boucher had been "instrumental in promoting a stable, broad-based and long-term Pakistan-US relationship," the Associated Press of Pakistan news agency reported. |
| Posted by:Fred |