Mumbai attacks: UK tells Pak its time for action, not words

Rezaul H Laskar

Islamabad, Dec 14 (PTI) In a stern message to Pakistan in
the wake of the Mumbai attacks, Britain Sunday asked it to
root out terrorists operating from its soil saying "time has
come for action and not words" and offered it a comprehensive
USD 9 million pact, the largest of its kind ever undertaken by
the UK, to combat the menace.

British Premier Gordon Brown, who met President Asif Ali
Zardari shortly after flying in from Delhi, said that
three-quarters of major terror plots investigated in the UK
had links to al-Qaeda in Pakistan.

"We will work to ensure that everything is done to make
sure that terrorists are denied any safe haven in Pakistan.
The time has come for action and not words," Brown told a
joint press conference with President Asif Ali Zardari.

He said Zardari had reassured him during their talks that
Pakistani authorities were "determined to act against those
who were behind the Mumbai attacks".

"The President has assured me that he is taking further
action to clamp down on terrorists suspected of involvement in
Mumbai (attacks)," said Brown, who repeated his comments about
links between terror plots in Britain and al-Qaeda in Pakistan
at least four times during the news conference.

Zardari renewed his offer to cooperate with India in
probing the Mumbai terror attacks and said Pakistan had also
proposed formation of a joint investigation team.

He said he had learnt from media reports, and "not
directly from (the Indian) government", that India still had
not completed its investigation into the Mumbai attacks.

"I am hoping that once the Indian government completes
the investigation and shares the information with us, we will
have further leads to find if there are any culprits on this
side of the border. We shall take action against them,"
Zardari said.

The British premier proposed a new counter-terrorism pact
with Pakistan, saying he wanted to expand the
counter-terrorism assistance programme with Pakistan to make
it the "most comprehensive programme Britain has signed with
any country".

The new proposals include a six-million pound (USD nine
million) programme to tackle the "causes of radicalisation and
to strengthen the democratic institutions of Pakistan".

Britain will also help develop Pakistani bomb disposal
capability, provide scanning equipment, particularly to help
detect car bombs, improve airport security, finance and help
set up anti-extremism centres, help with legislation against
terrorism where necessary and strengthen information-sharing
between police forces, especially in forensics and crisis
response.

Earlier, Brown, who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in
New Delhi, said that the outrageous attacks in Mumbai were
carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba and made it clear that
Islamabad will have a "great deal to answer for".

Brown said the assistance proposed by Britain is aimed
at breaking "the chain of terror that links the mountains of
Afghanistan and Pakistan to the streets of the UK and other
countries around the world".

Replying to a question on whether the evidence
provided by the US and Britain regarding the Mumbai attacks
was not enough for Pakistan to act on, Zardari indicated he
would prefer to wait till New Delhi shared the findings of its
probe with Islamabad.

"When the Indians are investigating and the incidents
happened there, to say that we could come up with proof
earlier than they can, would be asking for a little (too) much
from us. We are investigating and we are using all possible
assistance from the international community," Zardari said.

Asked by a Pakistani journalist if Islamabad's offer
to cooperate with New Delhi in probing the Mumbai carnage
amounted to appeasement, Zardari said, "I deny that I am
appeasing anybody, I am assisting the world and myself and
Pakistan.

"We are committed to fight against terrorism of any
form, whether it's in India, Britain, America or any other
part of the world."

Noting that he was himself a victim of terrorism,
Zardari said: "We consider this an opportunity to be able to
cooperate with India to take the relationship with India on
another level." He pointed out that Foreign Minister Shah
Mahmood Qureshi had been in India at the time of the attacks
to sign a "mutual agreement on cooperation in terrorism".

Brown said both he and Zardari felt "concern and
anger" at the Mumbai attacks, which he described as a "human
tragedy on a terrible scale". Brown also said that after his
talks today with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and
Zardari, he felt "reassured that the leadership of both
countries want to choose the path of diplomacy and greater
understanding".

The British premier said he had asked both his Indian
counterpart and Zardari to allow British police to question
suspects arrested in both countries in connection with the
Mumbai attacks. He indicated that he was awaiting a response
from both the leaders.

Brown said he had discussed with Prime Minister Singh
several measures to combat terror, including
"counter-terrorism cooperation at the highest level". He said
he had also held talks on improving airport security, "help
against radicalisation" and other measures to support Indian
security authorities in information and data sharing with
different countries.

"All of us – Pakistan, the rest of the world and
Britain – have an interest in India being able to step up its
counter-terrorism preparations and capabilities," Brown said.

Brown said Zardari had assured him of "his
determination that there are better mechanisms for dialogue
and consultation with India so that any misunderstandings
about what is being done can actually be removed".

Britain's interest in helping Pakistan fight terrorism
was not linked only to friendship between the two countries
and a desire to support Zardari, Brown said.

He said it was also because "people in Britain know
that what can happen in the mountains of Afghanistan and
Pakistan can affect directly what happens in the streets of
our cities and towns, what can happen in Afghanistan and
Pakistan can end up with people in Britain and other countries
feeling less secure". PTI RHL
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