Pakistani investigators have informed the government that they may have to stop their probe into the Mumbai attacks due to lack of cooperation by authorities in India and several other countries. The Federal Investigation Agency, which is probing the Mumbai terror attacks, has informed the interior ministry in a letter that it would have custody of some suspects only for a few more days and it was thus imperative to get cooperation from the other countries.
Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim are not in Pakistan, Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said today.
India said on Thursday that it will react to Pakistan's response to the dossier on Mumbai attacks after receiving and studying it
The party, political observers said, seems as an effort to set up a front which is acceptable to moderate Pakistanis.
Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday for consultations to finalise the country's response to the Indian dossier on the Mumbai attacks, which is expected to be handed over this week. The High Commissioner is expected to meet Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik, Law Minister Farooq Naek and Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir to discuss India's response, to questions Pakistan had posed after receiving the Indian dossier, sources said.
"Pakistan stands committed to bringing the perpetrators to justice. Media is requested not to speculate on the outcome of the inquiry till it is made public," an Interior Ministry spokesman said. His remark came ahead of a high-level meeting to be chaired by Pakistan's Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik on Saturday to discuss the preliminary report on Pakistan's probe into the dossier provided by India on the 26/11 attacks.
Asserting that all the 'culprits' behind the Mumbai attacks 'must be apprehended', Pakistan on Sunday said Indian investigators will 'be more than welcome' to help in its probe into the terror strikes. Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik also said anyone found to be involved in the 'heinous' attacks would be prosecuted under the country's anti-terror laws.
Pakistan on Saturday said that the evidence about Mumbai terror attacks -- given to it by India -- contained 'leads and good clues' and promised to file criminal cases if prima facie evidence is found.'Quite a lot of material' was provided by India and the Pakistani investigators will work to convert this into 'evidence that can stand up to judicial scrutiny', Pakistan's Interior Ministry chief Rahman Malik told a press conference in Islamabad on Saturday.
Any Pakistani national found to be involved in the Mumbai terrorist attacks will be dealt "with an iron hand" and tried under the Anti-Terrorism Act in the country's special anti-terror courts, interior ministry chief Rehman Malik has said.
Pakistan on Thursday said it had detained 71 members of outlawed militant groups and put under surveillance 124 others, besides shutting down five "training camps" of Jamaat-ud-Dawah and banning its websites, in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.
Pakistan will formally respond within a week to India's dossier on the Mumbai attacks by describing the information provided in it as "scanty and insufficient" and by renewing its offer for a joint probe into the terrorist strike, a media report said today.
Pakistan on Wednesday shared the Indian dossier on Mumbai attacks with the visiting Saudi intelligence chief and briefed him on the "progress" of its own probe into the incident, as Riyadh sought united efforts by the country's political forces to "de-escalate" tension in the subcontinent.
Pakistan will not act on the request for legal aid by Ajmal Amir Iman, the lone gunman captured for the Mumbai attacks, unless it is proved that he is a Pakistani national, interior ministry chief Rehman Malik has said.
The petitioner sought instructions to the interior ministry to suspend all investigations by any foreign agency inside Pakistan and further directions to the federal government to immediately deposit with the apex court all evidence collected by any foreign agency, until the disposal of his petition.
Pakistan, which is yet to admit that Ajmal Amir Kasab is its national, said it will respond by Wednesday to a letter written by the lone terrorist captured during the Mumbai attacks in which he has sought legal assistance from it.
The delegation is scheduled to take up these matters with Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik, a close aide of President Asif Ali Zardari, and other senior officials on Tuesday. The team is visiting Pakistan to seek the country's 'agreement to work through Interpol to help identify terrorists worldwide, including those behind the deadly November 26-29 terrorist bombings in Mumbai', said a statement from Interpol.
The Pakistan government today banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the front organisation for the outlawed LeT blamed for the Mumbai attacks, after the UN Security Council declared it a terrorist outfit and sealed its nine offices in Sindh apart from rounding up over 20 of its activists.
Indian national Sarabjit Singh, on death row in a Pakistani jail, is unlikely to benefit from the government's proposal to commute all death sentences to life imprisonment as he was convicted for a terrorist act.Only those who were not involved in crimes like terrorism, bombings and spreading sectarian hatred could benefit from Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's recent announcement about asking President Pervez Musharraf to commute death sentences to life imprisonment.
Making the announcement, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told Parliament that the Interior Ministry will be asked to 'move a summary to President Pervez Musharraf to commute the sentence of those on death row to life imprisonment'. Under Pakistan Constitution, the President has powers to commute sentences.
Pakistan on Friday stayed the execution of Sarabjit Singh. The hanging has been stayed till further notice.
The attack in Lahore, where a group of armed gunmen took policemen at a training academy hostage, bears resemblance to the Mumbai terror attacks, Pakistan Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said on Monday.
Pakistan on Thursday postponed the execution of a man whose family alleged he was 14 at the time of crime and his confession was extracted through torture.
Dawn News channel had on Wednesday quoted its sources as saying that Pakistani investigators had completed the initial investigation into the dossier provided by India on January 5 and found that the Mumbai attacks were not planned in Pakistan.
Pakistan is expected to respond to the Indian dossier on the Mumbai attacks on Thursday after wrapping up its investigation, extending the earlier deadline set by it to complete the probe by two days.With a 10-day deadline for the completion of a preliminary probe expiring on Tuesday, Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik held a meeting to review progress made so far in the investigation.There was no official word on the meeting.
During a meeting in Islamabad, Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik told Indian High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal about the inquiry being conducted by a three-member team into the information provided by New Delhi on the Mumbai attacks and other aspects of Pakistan's probe, official sources said. Pal, who sought the meeting with Malik, told PTI that the interior ministry chief had briefed him on the steps "already taken by the government by Pakistan.
India has much paranoia in India about a new 'Terroristan' coming up between Pakistan and a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Pakistan has zero ability economically, diplomatically, geostrategically or militarily to create one. If they try, it will be great for India as they will destroy themselves yet again, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Britain's Scotland Yard, which probed the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto, on Friday handed over a report on its findings to the Pakistani police. Officials said that the head of a three-member team of British detectives, which arrived in Islamabad on Thursday, handed over the report to senior Pakistani police officials.
The Pakistan government has sought a report from officials on how Indian Minister Jairam Ramesh "strolled" into Pakistani territory at the Wagah border, violating rules and regulations last week, a media report has said.
Initially the visa will be offered for two weeks, an official said. Currently, nationals of 35 countries are granted visas on arrival at entry points, including Bahrain International Airport and King Fahad Causeway. The visitors should carry a valid passport and a return ticket and provide either hotel reservation details or family contacts in Bahrain for visas on arrival.
According to latest statistics of the Home ministry, the seven forces -- the CRPF, the Border Security Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the Seema Sahastra Bal, the Central Industrial Security Forces, the National Security Guard and the Assam Rifles -- have lost 1,067 men in combat or counter-insurgency operations over a period of three years. But more than thrice -- as many as 3,611 personnel -- have died due to illnesses.
The Pakistan government has sealed offices of Al-Amin Trust in Karachi and Lahore and frozen several bank accounts as part of its ongoing crackdown on groups added to a UN Security Council list of terrorist organisations subject to sanctions.
The election seem to have been conducted without any major security lapses. However, in the coming weeks, the military situation in Kandahar could tilt in the Taliban's favour, notes Aveek Sen.
Television reports said at least 3 people had been injured in the blasts that went off as a music show was in progress in the Al-Hamra Complex near the stadium.
The Pakistan consulate in the eastern Afghanistan city of Jalalabad was sealed off on Wednesday after a suicide bomber detonated himself followed by gunfire. Seven people have been reported killed.
The aid will directly benefit 25,000 people from some of the worst hit areas of the state, adding a humanitarian expert from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Operations has also been deployed to assess the situation in the state.
Prisoners facing death row in Pakistan, including Indian national Sarabjit Singh, are likely to get a reprieve with the government "actively considering" a proposal to convert capital punishment into life imprisonment. "A summary prepared by the interior ministry is at an advanced stage and a final decision is expected within a few days," a source was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.
During his terse speech, Singh launched a veiled attack on Pakistan, saying mere condemnation of terrorism and individual acts by terrorists was not enough.
"This is the madrassah (seminary) and India is doing propaganda that it is the JeM headquarters," Chaudhry said.
Indian national Ram Prakash, freed after serving a 10-year prison term in Pakistan on charges of spying, was on Tuesday sent back to jail after Indian authorities at the Wagah border refused to accept him for 'not possessing valid travel documents'.According to Prakash, the Indian High Commission in Islamabad did not send his documents to the Indian authorities at Wagah. The High Commission claimed that they had not been officially informed by Pakistani authorities.
