United Jihad Council (UJC) chief Sayed Salahuddin has called the killing of civilians in the Mumbai terrorist attacks 'reprehensible', and denied that any member of his alliance was involved. The UJC is an umbrella organisation banding together around a dozen militant groups in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). "Let me be very clear once again that the United Jihad Council does not approve of civilian killings and under its code of conduct such an act is reprehensible," Salahuddin said. "I can say with utmost certainty that none of the Kashmiri jihadi groups has any involvement with the events in Mumbai," he told Reuters by telephone. Suspicion has fallen on a non-member, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LT). Though it fights for the Kashmiri cause, the LT was founded in Punjab and mainly recruits Punjabis to its ranks. Salahuddin, whose own group is Harkatul Mujahideen, said the attacks in Mumbai were probably carried out by an Indian group in response to the oppression of minorities, including Muslims. AJK Legislative Assembly Speaker Shah Ghulam Qadir condemned India for levelling accusations before fully investigating, and said it endangered peace talks begun in 2004. "Blaming Pakistan even before holding preliminary investigations is condemnable," Qadir said.