Brown declines comment on alleged Mumbai role of Britons

Nov 28, 2008, 11:09 GMT

London - Prime Minister Gordon Brown Friday refused to be drawn on reports that British citizens of Pakistani origin could have been involved in the terrorism attacks in Mumbai.

Brown said he would talk to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the claim, made by local Indian channel NDTV. Singh has said that the terrorists who attacked the city were believed to have been based outside India.

'I would not want to be drawn into early conclusions about this,' Brown said on Sky News.

'But obviously when you have terrorists operating in one country they may be getting support from another country or coming from another country and it is very important that we strengthen the co- operation between India and Britain in dealing with these instances of terrorist attack,' Brown added.

Speculation about the possible involvement of British citizens in the attacks was also fuelled by remarks attributed to Erika Mann, a German member of the European Parliament, who was caught up in the attacks during a visit of an EU delegation to Mumbai.

According to a press release published by the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, Mann spoke of 'unconfirmed reports' that British citizens were involved.

'The attacks appear to have a European dimension. We have heard from journalists and other people we were with that English citizens took part in the attacks and were killed in the hotel,' she was quoted as saying.

A British businessman died in the attacks and at least seven Britons were injured, the government has confirmed.