CBMs with India became `futile` due to Mumbai attacks: Pak PM

New York, Feb 8 (PTI) Pakistan Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani
has said all confidence-building measures with India became
"futile" in the wake of the Mumbai attacks and insisted that
his government would probe the matter and whoever was involved
would be tried according to the laws of the country.

"We were having excellent relations with India. We were on
good terms with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh" until the
November 26 attacks, he told 'Newsweek' in an interview in
its upcoming issue.

India has blamed Pakistan-based elements, including the
terrorist group Lashkar-e-Toiba, for the attacks and is
awaiting a response to its dossier on the terror strikes
handed over to Islamabad on January 5.

"... With this incident all of our confidence-building
measures became futile. Now, you can imagine who is the
beneficiary of this -- the terrorists," Gilani said.

"Therefore, I assure you and I assure India and I assure
the world that whatever information has been given to us, we
will probe into it and whoever was involved we will try
according to our laws, and we will not allow our territory to
be used for terrorism," he said.

Unlike the previous Musharraf regime, the present
democratic government, he said, has the ability to control
terrorist groups like Lakshar-e-Toiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa.

"We have already arrested the main leaders of
Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Lashkar-e-Toiba. We have frozen their
accounts and put them in jail and are investigating their
affairs," Gilani said.

Replying to a question, Gilani called on the US and the
world at large to help Pakistan build its capacity in field of
maintenance of law and order so that it could flush out
al-Qaeda and Taliban militants from tribal areas bordering
Afghanistan and bring the restive region under its control.

"We have the will and we have the ability. We don't have
the capacity. The capacity I am talking about is the
law-enforcement agencies like the Frontier Corps or the police
because the Army is not a permanent solution for anything.

"Therefore we have appealed to the world and to the
Americans that they should strengthen the capacity of our
law-enforcement agencies," he said.

About the US raids on terrorists in tribal areas, Gilani
said the two countries should have more intelligence sharing
so that when "actionable and credible" information is
available, "we will be allowed to hit (targets) ourselves
instead of the Americans."

Asked if the civilian government could overcome Army's
"sympathy: for these groups, Gilani said the military and the
government are totally in line with each other and there is no
difference of opinion. "They are one and the same."

In the context of war on terror, Gilani said Pakistan has
a "multi-dimensional" cooperation and "strategic partnership"
with the US, adding that this should allow sharing of more
intelligence between the two countries.

Describing the election of President Barack Obama as a
"positive" development, he said, "we think that he will go for
a change because military action is not the only solution to
the problem."

"Some new strategy should be evolved. I agree with Obama
and I support him nominating an envoy, Richard Holbrooke, for
this region because he realises it is a regional problem," he
said.

Gilani replied in the affirmative when asked if Pakistan
is having trouble with economy and stressed that rising prices
of food and oil have created problems.

Besides, he said, Pakistan is a "frontline" state
fighting against terrorism and extremism and "paying a heavy
price." Every suicide attack leads to flight of capital and
discourages investments.

The answer, he said, is for the world to look after
Pakistan. "We are (also) catering to the needs of 3.5 million
Afghan refugees," he told Newsweek.

Asked what he expects from the United States, Gilani said
the adoption of the Biden-Lugar bill, which provides funds for
development assistance to troubled areas of the world, should
be expedited by the Congress.

Replying to a question, Gilani said former Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto had "a concern" about the country as she knew
that government was not in safe hands during the Musharraf
regime and believed that democracy is the real answer.

During the tenure of former President Pervez Musharraf,
he claimed that no real action against terrorists was taking
place in areas bordering Afghanistan.

But now the government is taking "serous action" against
the militants who are coming from Uzbekistan and Chechnya as
well as against Arabs and the Taliban "We are fighting them
and they are feeling the heat," he added. PTI