By IANS,
Islamabad : India would be informed later this week about the outcome of Pakistan’s probe into the Mumbai terror attacks that New Delhi has blamed on elements operating from this country, President Asif Ali Zardari has said.
Zardari made the commitment at a dinner here Tuesday night for the envoys of France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Russia. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Interior Ministry Adviser Rehman Malik and Adviser on Finance Shaukat Tarin were among those who attended the dinner.
Zardari said Pakistan was “seriously conducting the probe” and urged the diplomats to play their role in defusing tensions for the sake of peace in the region, Dawn reported Wednesday.
Ten heavily armed terrorists that India says came from Pakistan had sneaked into Mumbai on Nov 26 via the sea route and attacked various installations in the city, holding it to ransom for over 60 hours before they were neutralised. More than 170 people, including 26 foreigners, lost their lives in the carnage, while over 300 were injured.
India had earlier this month submitted a detailed dossier on the involvement of elements from Pakistan in the Mumbai carnage. The interior ministry had asked a three-member panel to examine the document and submit a report by Tuesday. This deadline has now been extended by two days.
India has also demanded the extradition of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Zarrar Shah, two key operatives of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group that New Delhi says planned 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.
Pakistan has also owned up to the nationality of Ajaml Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested during the Mumbai mayhem.
“We will try to transform the information provided by India into solid evidences so that cases could be registered against perpetrators and they could be brought to justice inside Pakistan,” the newspaper quoted Rehman as saying during the dinner.
In setting up the three-member panel, Rehman had Jan 17 also assured India and the international community that if any Pakistani was found to be involved in the Mumbai attacks, he would be tried in Pakistan in accordance with the country’s laws and would not be handed over to India.
The Dawn quoted sources in the government as saying that the trial would be in camera and the media would be briefed on the proceedings through proper channel.
“They said Pakistan wanted to try the people found involved in the Mumbai carnage because it believed that these non-state actors had embarrassed the country and tarnished its image in the world,” Dawn added.
Meanwhile, 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 Mumbai carnage.
Pakistan’s laws currently do not have any provisions for dealing with its nationals who commit crimes outside the country.