Monday, December 22, 2008

US Raps Shifty Pak on Mumbai Terror


With New Delhi fast running out of patience over Pakistan’s repeated refusals to act against terror groups operating from its territory, the US told Pakistani National Security Adviser Mahmud Ali Durrani that Islamabad was “shifty and shifting position on the Mumbai attacks” was unacceptable.

Wasahington summoned Durrani, who was told by his hosts that the administration was “getting increasingly frustrated with Islamabad’s repeated somersaults on the u\issue.

Durrani concluded his three-day US visit on Saturday, during which he met secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, US Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and Pentagon officials.

Earlier in the week, Rice had said that what Pakistan had done so far to catch those responsible for the Mumbai attacks was not enough. She said her message to the Pakistani leadership was “...you need to deal with the terrorism problem. And it’s not enough to say these are non-state actors. If they’re operating from Pakistan, then they have to be dealt with.”

A “much stronger message” was conveyed by Rice during her meeting with Durrani. The Pakistani team, which included ambassador Hussain Haqqani, learnt from Rice and Hadley that the US was not satisfied with what Pakistan “had done so far for eradicating terrorism from its soil”.

The US officials insisted that they have enough evidence to prove that Lashkar-e-Tayeba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa were involved in the Mumbai attacks. “They told the Pakistanis to understand the gravity of the situation and the seriousness of the evidence that exists to Pakistan’s links to this event”.

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