By IANS,
Islamabad : Pakistan is likely to respond Thursday to an Indian dossier pointing to the involvement of elements from this country in the Mumbai terror carnage, official sources said Tuesday.
Interior ministry adviser Rehman Malik had extended by two days the deadline that expired Tuesday as “some aspects” of the dossier still remained to be examined, Dawn News channel quoted the sources as saying.
Malik on Jan 17 set a 10-day deadline for a three-member panel to examine the Indian dossier and submit its report.
On Tuesday, The News daily newspaper reported that Pakistan has made considerable headway in its probe into the Mumbai attacks but was disappointed at India cold-shouldering its offer of a joint investigation into the carnage.
Simultaneously, the law ministry is examining the country’s anti-terror laws to see how best these can be amended to apply them to those who have been arrested here for the Nov 26-29 Mumbai carnage. The terror strike claimed more than 170 lives, including those of 26 foreigners, and left over 300 injured.
Pakistan’s laws currently do not have any provisions for dealing with its nationals who commit crimes outside the country.
“The outcome of the inquiry will be shared with the government of India through diplomatic channels as and when we receive it from the interior ministry,” The News Tuesday quoted a source as saying.
India has also demanded the arrest of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Zarrar Shah, two key operatives of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group that India blames for the Mumbai attacks. The two were held last month during a crackdown on the Jamaat-ud Dawa that the LeT has morphed into and are being held incommunicado at an undisclosed location.
“There is disappointment in government circles that despite repeated offers of cooperation in the investigation process, New Delhi is in no mood to reciprocate,” The News said.
“As the FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) continues its investigation discreetly for detecting more accounts and assets of Jamaat-ud Daawa, it appears, according to the interior ministry, that the largest number of Daawa activists have been detained from areas of Azad (Paksitan-administered) Kashmir and Northern Areas where their number is 20,” the newspaper added.
The three-member probe panel is now in the process of establishing the legally verifiable credentials of suspects allegedly involved in the Mumbai attacks.
“They will also inquire into available information supplied by India with a view to transforming it into evidence for further legal action and collect other related evidence for legal action according to the laws of Pakistan,” the newspaper said.
“In the final analysis, it will be a test of Pakistan’s anti-terror courts, as in the past many judges of these courts had declined to sit on judgments because of threats. No less important is how well prepared the government is with their cases because any loopholes will see their cases thrown out and the detainees set free,” the newspaper added.