US asks Pak to launch prosecution against terror suspects

Islamabad/Washington, Dec 23 (PTI) Keeping up its
pressure, the US is now pressing Pakistan to go beyond
arresting members of the LeT and others involved in the terror
attacks in Mumbai by launching prosecution cases against them
"fully and transparently."

The US made this demand when the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, met Pakistan Army Chief
General Ashfaq Kayani and the Director General of the ISI Lt
General Ahmed Shuja Pasha in Islamabad Monday.

During the meetings, Mullen urged Kayani and Pasha to
"support judicial efforts to prosecute the cases fully and
transparently," the US embassy in Islamabad said in
statement.

Mullen, who is in the Pakistani capital in the wake of an
escalated war of words between India and Pakistan over the
Mumbai terror strikes, "thanked both men for their efforts --
and the efforts of the Pakistani government -- to arrest
members of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and other extremist groups
involved with the attacks in Mumbai."

The top US military official, now on his second visit to
Pakistan in the aftermath of the November 26 carnage in
Mumbai, also "encouraged the Pakistani leaders to use this
tragic event as an opportunity to forge more productive ties
with India and to seek ways in which both nations can combat
the common threat of extremism together," the statement said.

The ongoing visit of Mullen is his seventh to Pakistan
since assuming office and his eighth meeting with Gen Kayani.

Meanwhile, the US State Department said it was pressing
Pakistan "every single day" to "track down and get off the
street" those responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks.

Outlining efforts initiated by the US in the aftermath of
the November 26 attacks, State Department Spokesman Sean
McCormack said Washington also planned to find the "final
disposition" of the individuals arrested by Pakistan.

"We are still at the stage where we are urging Pakistan
every single day to do whatever it can to prevent future
attacks and to track down and get off the street those
responsible for these attacks," he said in Washington.

On conflicting reports about the detention of Jaish-e-
Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, McCormack said "I'll leave it to
the Pakistani authorities to describe whom they have detained
and who are they, who they are looking to detain."

He said Pakistan has to deal with the specific
arrangements required to bring to justice those responsible
for the Mumbai terror attacks.

"I can't offer a specific policy prescription for
you at this point, but it is important that Pakistan and India
continue to mitigate any differences through dialogue and
diplomacy that they might have, and that every single day
Pakistan focus on the task at hand, and that is to prevent any
further attacks," McCormack said.

The White House also pressed Pakistan that it should
bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice.

"We do want to see those who perpetuate these attacks
brought to justice, and that's something that we've tried to
impress upon all the governments in that region...," White
House Deputy Spokesman Tony Fratto said. PTI SK
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