Mumbai strikes; Britain for prosecution of accused in Pakistan

New Delhi, Jan 14 (PTI) Virtually rejecting India's
contention that those accused in the Mumbai attacks be
extradited, Britain has said it supports their prosecution in
Pakistan as they have "broken the law" of that country.

British Foreign Minister David Miliband said there is
evidence about involvement of Pakistan-based people and
Islamabad should follow its commitments with actions.

"We will support their prosecution under Pakistani law,
because they have broken the law in Pakistan. Its Pakistani
law they have broken as well as international decency and
common sense," British Foreign Minister David Miliband told
Karan Thapar's 'Devil's Advocate' programme.

He was responding when referred to New Delhi's demand
that those accused of terrorist acts in India should be handed
over to face trial in India.

On the dossier of evidence given by India to Pakistan,
he said "We have absolutely no doubt about the origin of the
attack in Mumbai in November. The origins are in Pakistan."

Noting that there have been some detentions in Pakistan,
Miliband said "they (should) now lead to successful
prosecutions. We believe the evidence is there."

Asked about the evidence, he said "We have our own
evidence we have shown to Pakistani authorities and and we
believe that is the right evidence on which to proceed."

He said it was "critical" that "the words of the
Pakistani government which are commitments" should be followed
through into action.

When asked why those accused of terror in India should
not be handed over to New Delhi like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
handed over by Pakistan to US, Miliband said "I won't go into
constitutional position in Pakistan.

"What is important is those accused of heinous crimes
should feel the full force of the law, whether in India or in
Pakistan."

He said the Pakistani authorities have detained these
people and "if there there is evidence, they should be
prosecuted. I say there is evidence, let them be prosecuted
and if they are found guilty let them be punished."

The British Foreign Minister said he was in Pakistan on
the day Mumbai attacks took place. "We had good words from
Pakistani authorities that need to be translated into action."

"Indians don't want words. They want action. We support
that position," said Miliband, who has met Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and held talks with External Affairs Minister
Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram.

He talked about "short-term" and "medium-term actions"
that Pakistan needs to take.

"Short term action -- find the culprits, if found guilty,
punish them take action through the courts. Medium-term action
- root out the terror networks which pose threat not only to
India but to fundamentals of Pakistani state as well," he
said.

Noting that terrorism has taken life of former Pakistan
Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and many other Pakistanis, he
said "they (Pakistan) need to do it for their own good."

On Manmohan Singh's view that official agencies of
Pakistan could have been involved in the Mumbai attacks,
Miliband said "we don't have evidence to show that attacks
were directed by the Pakistani government."

He, however, noted that "the Pakistani government had a
policy towards the LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) under the previous
regime of President (Pervez) Musharraf... we do know that...
This is public knowledge... I think its very important that
approach is changed."

When referred to Singh's contention that Pakistan is
using terrorism as an instrument of state policy, he said "I
have no evidence of Pakistani state directing terrorist
activities and I will never make that claim without that
evidence. What I know is Pakistan has a very serious terrorism
problem."

Asked whether UK would impose sanctions on Pakistan if
that country fails to properly punish those behind the Mumbai
attacks, he ruled out saying, "I don't think punishing
Pakistani people with economic sanction is going to induce a
sort of change."

He said the UK will "use all appropriate mechanism to
make a difference" but made it clear that "military stick"
will not help. "There is serious need for reform from within
Pakistan," Miliband said.

On the Pakistani proposal for joint investigation, he
said the two countries should cooperate "but we are not for
any particular version of how to cooperate".

Miliband also disfavoured appointment of a special envoy
by the US on Kashmir as has been speculated, saying India and
Pakistan should be allowed to settle it bilaterally.

"It (Kashmir) is a bilateral issue...That is not in our
policy. We felt composite dialogue between India and Pakistan
is the right way forward.Our position has been the bilateral
track is a good track and it should be." PTI MPB
AM