US sends strong message to Pakistan leadership

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sending a strong message to Pakistan leadership on Thursday asked Pakistan government to provide ‘unequivocal support’ to India to reach at the bottom of the Mumbai terror attacks.

In her meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, she asked Pakistan to act in urgency on the information provided by India.

President Zardari who had earlier made comment on the perpetrators of Mumbai attacks as "non-state actors", expressed that his country is ready to assist in investigation into the Mumbai strikes.

‘Pakistan is determined to ensure that its territory isn’t used for any act of terrorism and his government will take strong action against any Pakistani found involved in the attack,’ a statement from the presidential office quoted Zardari as assuring Rice.

Later in a media briefing Rice said: 'I found the Pakistani leadership very focused and committed and Pakistani official said they would extend full cooperation in the ongoing Mumbai investigation.’

The US Secretary of State was on an urgent visit to New Delhi and Islamabad viewing the rising tension between India and Pakistan as Indian intelligence has already established enough evidence against the Pakistan based militant outfits and also the role of Pakistan army and ISI.

Saying that the attack on Mumbai was alarming and hence all sides need to work together to prevent such strikes in future, Rice said: 'Everybody wants to prevent further attacks.'

Rice also expressed the need of information sharing on Mumbai attack between India and Pakistan by saying that there is a lot of information that can be shared.

She, however, avoided a direct question on the likelihood of an Indian military operation on the headquarters of the Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan that New Delhi blames for the terror strikes. She said Pakistan was ready to cooperate with India and 'I believe negotiations should remain open.'

Meanwhile, US President-elect Barack Obama's adviser on South Asian affairs, Bruce Riedel, has alleged the link of Pakistan Intelligence agencies to Mumbai attack. Riedel is a former CIA official and now a member of Obama's policy working group on national security.

"If there's anything that is a 64 million dollar question today," it is finding out the "extent of its (Lashkar-e-Toiba) current ties to the Pakistani intelligence service," the Dawn quoted Riedel as saying during a discussion hosted by Brookings Institution on "Mumbai Terrorist Attacks: A Challenge for India and the World".