India tells Pakistani envoy that probe points to links (Roundup)

Dec 1, 2008, 14:21 GMT

A general view of the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station as people slowly return to their normal daily routine in Mumbai, India, 01 December 2008. EPA/STR

New Delhi - Pakistan's High Commissioner Shahid Malik was called to India's Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi Monday and informed that the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai were carried out by elements based in Pakistan, the Indian Foreign Ministry said.

'The government expects that strong action would be taken against those elements, whosoever they may be, responsible for this outrage,' the ministry said in a statement.

The terror attacks by heavily armed gunmen in India's financial hub left 188 dead and over 300 injured.

The victims included 30 foreigners, who hailed from countries including Israel, Germany, Japan, United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, France, Italy, Singapore and Japan.

Shah Zaman Khan, minister for press affairs in the Pakistan Embassy, described the meeting as routine. He said it was fixed after the Mumbai attacks and these were discussed.

India reportedly has hard evidence that shows that those behind Mumbai terrorist attacks were based in neighbouring Pakistan.

The findings are supported by the testimony of the only terrorist arrested during the three-day massacre in which heavily armed men targeted two luxury hotels, a railway station, a hospital and a Jewish centre.

The arrested militant, Ajmal Amir Kasav, 21, who admitted being a member of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba militant group, had provided evidence that attacks were planned in Pakistan, Indian investigators told local newspapers.

Kasav, who belongs to the Pakistani province of Punjab, told interrogators that he was among the 10 picked for the mission after 24 youths underwent year-long training at a militant camp in Mansera and Muzaffarabad in Pakistan, the Times of India newspaper reported.

The LeT (Army of the Pure), the main militant group operating in India-administered Kashmir, has been suspected of being behind several daring attacks on Indian soil, including a 2001 raid on the Indian parliament.

The LeT has been fighting Indian forces with then aim of creating an Islamic state covering Pakistan and Kashmir and is believed to have close links with Pakistan's spy agency the Inter-Services Intelligence.

Islamabad has denied involvement in the Mumbai attacks, a charge which threatens to jeopardize a bilateral peace-process launched in 2004.

It has also promised in the past that it would not allow terrorists operating against India to use its territory.

'It was conveyed to the Pakistan high commissioner that Pakistan's actions needed to match the sentiments expressed by its leadership that it wishes to have a qualitatively new relationship with India,' India's Foreign Ministry said in the statement after the meeting between its officials and the high commissioner.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, in an interview with the CNN- IBN news channel, had earlier urged India against 'over-reaction'.

A previously unknown group, calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen, claimed responsibility for the attacks - the deadliest in Mumbai since 1993, when a series of bombings killed over 250 people and wounded 700.

Earlier on Monday, Washington announced that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would be visiting India on Wednesday to show solidarity with India after the attacks.

Ahead of her visit, Rice told reporters in London that Islamabad must 'follow evidence wherever it leads' and lend 'absolute' and 'transparent' cooperation in the probe, the PTI news agency reported.

Meanwhile, a US Federal Bureau of Investigation team was in Mumbai to assist Indian agencies in the probe. The FBI team met with Mumbai police officials and later visited the scenes of fighting between the terrorists and the Indian forces.

As the quest for accountability continued in the aftermath of the attacks, Maharashtra deputy chief minister RR Patil, who was in charge of the interior ministry which looks after intelligence issues, resigned.

Patil's resignation followed that of India's federal home minister Shivraj Patil on Sunday. Former finance minister P Chidambaram has taken charge of the Home Ministry while the Finance Ministry will be overseen by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has also offered to quit and reports said his resignation was likely to be accepted once the ruling Congress Party to which Deshmukh belongs pinpoints a successor.

Soon after taking office as home minister, Chidambaram said India would respond with determination and resolve to the grave threats posed to the nation.

'This is a threat to the very idea of India, the very soul of India that we know, that we love - secular, plural, tolerant and open society. I have no doubt that ultimately the idea of India will triumph,' he said.