Pakistani premier sacks national security adviser

Jan 7, 2009, 19:28 GMT

Islamabad - Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Wednesday sacked the country's top security adviser, apparently for breaching protocol while making a statement on the nationality of the lone surviving Mumbai gunman.

National Security Adviser Mehmud Ali Durrani was quoted by several television news channels, including the India-based CNN-IBN, as saying that Ajmal Amir Qasab, the only attacker arrested in the Mumbai mayhem, was a Pakistani national.

A short statement issued by the prime minister's office late Wednesday said Durrani was removed 'for his irresponsible behaviour for not taking (the) prime minister and other stakeholders into confidence, and lack of coordination on matters of national security.'

The surprising dismissal came hours after the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan newswire cited a Foreign Ministry spokesman as confirming that Qasab 'is a Pakistani national and further investigations are being carried out.'

India has long been insisting that the arrested gunman was a Pakistani, and on Tuesday officially gave Islamabad the information that New Delhi says links the perpetrators to elements inside Pakistan.

Relations between New Delhi and Islamabad are at the lowest ebb since the November 26 attacks in India's financial hub of Mumbai, where more than 170 people were killed by 10 gunmen believed to be linked with Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist organization.