Pak on back foot after disclosure

Following the Wall Street Journal’s report that Zarar and another LeT operations commander Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi have admitted they orchestrated Mumbai attacks, and Pakistani National Security Adviser’s acceptance of Pakistani nationals could be involved in the Mumbai mayhem, Pakistan’s war rhetoric has gradually died down and it has moved in the defensive posture.

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Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in conversation with Geo TV on Thursday neither nodded nor ruled out the report, albeit resorted to the middle path, saying his government cannot comment on the matter at this stage as it might influence the investigation process being conducted by Pakistani investigating agencies.

“I don’t want to comment on the report at this stage as it can affect the investigations carrying out by our agencies,” said the minister adding that his country had made significant developments in the Mumbai terror strikes.

Wall Street Journal, New York’s international daily newspaper, quoting Pakistani officials had reported that top Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Zarar Shah, nabbed in earlier December in Pak crackdown on terrorist camps, had confessed during interrogation that he was one of the key planners of the Mumbai strikes.

Shah allegedly told investigators that a group of 10 people that struck Mumbai on Nov 26 were trained in Karachi, constantly in touch with him, and reached India from Karachi by boat.

Qureshi said that India and Pakistan both have a common enemy and have to defeat it together. He asserted that Islamabad wants to establish good relations with India and is always ready for constructive co-operation and will definitely help with the investigations.

“No one should doubt our sincerity in this regard, we want to help India in the investigations wholeheartedly... I repeat there should be no doubt in this regard,” Qureshi added.

It was also learnt that US had put pressure on Islamabad that it should handover all the perpetrators linked to the Mumbai terror strikes to India. But now as per the Pakistani media US has changed its mind and asked Pakistan to initiate the prosecution of the suspects with sufficient efforts to ensure conviction.

In the meantime, New Delhi has demanded that Pakistan extradite suspects involved in the Mumbai strikes. Pakistan as usual refused the demand.

On Thursday, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters that US pressure on Pakistan to act against the Mumbai perpetrators had not produced tangible returns. He claimed that a FBI team in Pakistan had shared with the authorities enough evidences that established Lashkar’s involvement in the coordinated attacks on Mumbai. Pakistan should act on that evidence and hand over the perpetrators to us, he exhorted.

When asked about the extradition of Mumbai perpetrators, Qureshi said: “There is no extradition treaty between India and Pakistan. If there are some people involved in the Mumbai attacks and India shares evidence with us, we will take action against them under our own judicial system.