Pakistan vows to punish Mumbai attackers

ISLAMABAD — On Dec. 4, Pakistan promised to find and prosecute any Pakistani linked to the terrorist attacks that killed at least 180 people in the Indian metropolis of Mumbai.

President Asif Ali Zardari said, "Pakistan will not only assist in investigation of the Mumbai incidents but also take action against any Pakistani element found involved in it."

India put airports in New Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai on high alert amid warnings of possible new terrorist strikes.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she "found a Pakistani government that is focused on the threat and understands its responsibilities to respond to terrorism and extremism wherever it is found."

Asian and Western officials have linked the Mumbai attacks to a militant Islamic group, 'Lashkar-e-Taiba'. According to Indian officials, the sole Mumbai gunman captured alive admitted to being a Pakistani and member of Lashkar.

Lashkar-e-Taiba, which means "army of the pure," is headed by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, who has been jailed in Pakistan. In 2002, then-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf outlawed the organization, but did not ban a charitable foundation also headed by Saeed, 'Jamaat-ud-Dawa'.

A spokesman for Jamaat-ud-Dawa said the group is not linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba and was not behind the Mumbai killings.

Adviser to the Pakistani government on interior affairs Rehman Malik told reporters in Islamabad that India has asked for the extradition of only three people, Dawood Ibrahim, Tiger Memon and Maulana Masood Azhar.

Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon are both accused in connection with 1993 bombings in Mumbai that killed more than 250 people.

Masood Azhar, who is the leader of 'Jaish-e-Muhammad' (Muhammad's Army), was held in India but freed in 1999 in return for Indian hostages aboard a hijacked plane.

[Washington Times]