By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : Likening Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, to Al Qaeda, a top US official has said besides India it could also pose a threat to the United States.
“LeT is a potent terrorist organization. It could be construed as a threat to the United States. It certainly is to India,” Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said Thursday.
In US eyes LeT was in the same league as Al Qaeda, she said at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think-tank. “It is Al-Qaeda-like in its strength and organization.”
Napolitano, who visited India last week for talks on anti-terrorism, however, declined to disclose US intelligence on the terror group.
Napolitano also declined to speak about her talks with India on LeT, but said New Delhi did not ask her specifically to ask Pakistan to turn over suspects in the Mumbai attacks.
Napolitano said the US supported India-Pakistan peace talks to promote regional stability.
“The United States believes that it is in everyone’s interest for India and Pakistan to be able to work together,” she said.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])