Rice tells Islamabad US expects 'robust' response to Mumbai attacks

By: BiodunIginla

Mumbai : India | about 1 month ago

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by Sunita Kureishi, reporting for Biodun Iginla @ BBC News, from Islamabad, Pakistan

US secretary of state arrives in Pakistan hoping to ameliorate growing tensions with retribution-seeking India

Peter Walker and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Thursday December 4 2008 10.28 GMT
Article history

Condoleezza Rice talks to Pakistan's foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in Islamabad. Photograph: T Mughal/EPA

Pakistan's government is "very committed" to fighting terrorism, the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, said today as she attempted to ease inflamed tensions over the Mumbai attacks.

Rice, who arrived in Pakistan today following talks in India, said her discussions with Pakistani civilian and military leaders about a response to the killing of more than 170 people last week had been "quite satisfactory".

She said: "I was told and I fully believe, [Pakistan] is very committed to this war on terror, does not in any way want to be associated with terrorist elements and is indeed fighting to root them out wherever they find them".

While in Delhi, Rice was told that the 10 militants who attacked the city a week ago had been trained and supported in Pakistan. Indian police say the men were linked to the banned Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba Islamist group, which has ties to Pakistani intelligence.

Islamabad insists there is no evidence to support this. A statement today from the office of the country's president, Asif Ali Zardari, said he had told Rice the country would take "strong action" against any elements found to be implicated in the Mumbai attacks.

While Rice has been careful not to blame Pakistan explicitly, she has urged the country to take tough action against militants using its territory, noting today the importance of dealing with those "who may use Pakistani territory even if they are not state actors".

On her flight to Islamabad, Rice said she expected a "robust" response from Pakistan.

"The global threat of extremism and terrorism has to be met by all states, taking a very tough and hard line, and so that is what I am going to discuss," Rice told reporters on the flight from Delhi.

During her brief visit, Rice first met the head of Pakistan's powerful army, General Ashfaq Kayani, before holding talks with Zardari and the prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, who leads an eight-month-old civilian government.

Her main task is to somehow prevent growing anger in India and reciprocal resentment in Pakistan spilling over into border tensions, or worse, between the nuclear-armed neighbours, who have already fought three wars since independence.

Washington's fear, aside from the prospect of conflict in the region, is that a standoff with India could see Pakistan remove troops from attempts to track down militants linked to al-Qaida in the lawless border region with Afghanistan. Pakistan's previous military government, under General Pervez Musharraf, was a staunch ally in US efforts towards this, but Zardari has been notably less enthusiastic.

America's top military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, is also in the region. He met leaders in Pakistan yesterday before travelling to Delhi today.

Despite US efforts, the anger in India is growing - something the country's leaders have been making clear to Rice.

"I informed Dr Rice that there is no doubt that the terrorist attacks in Mumbai were perpetrated by individuals who came from Pakistan and whose controllers are in Pakistan," the country's foreign minister, Pranab Mukherjee, said.

Last night, thousands of people gathered in Mumbai to mark one week since the gun and grenade attacks on luxury hotels, a Jewish centre and other targets in the city, many calling for war with Pakistan.

Further anger has been roused by the perception that India's security services botched their response to the attack. Yesterday, it emerged that bombs carried in by the attackers lay undiscovered for a week at the city's main rail station, hidden in a bag among abandoned luggage.

Today, Mumbai police said a grenade, possibly from the attacks, had been found outside the city hospital.

Meanwhile, more than 2,000 students marched through Islamabad shouting anti-US and anti-Indian slogans.

Despite Zardari's conciliatory words, he is limited in what action he can take to placate India. He has already indicated Pakistan will not hand over the 20 named suspects demanded by Delhi, saying they would be tried in Pakistan were any evidence against them to emerge.

His civilian government would most likely face a severe public backlash if it was seen to be giving in to demands from the country's traditional enemy.

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This article was first published on guardian.co.uk at 10.28 GMT on Thursday December 04 2008. It was last updated at 10.26 GMT on Thursday December 04 2008. Ads by Google