(AKI) - Pakistan will not hand over any suspects in last month's Mumbai attacks investigation to India, but will try them under its own laws, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Tuesday, quoted by media. Pakistan has in recent days arrested several members of the outlawed Kashmiri separatist group Lashkar-e-Toiba. India accuses the group of involvement in the Mumbai assault which killed at least 170 people and wounded over 300. "The arrests are being made for our own investigations. Even if allegations are proved against any suspect, he will not be handed over to India," Qureshi said. "We will proceed against those arrested under Pakistani laws."
At the request of security agencies, Pakistan on Saturday arrested at an undisclosed location Lashkar-e-Toiba's operational commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi, alleged by India to be the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks. Lakhwi will be interrogated by a joint team of agents from the FBI and Pakistan's spy agency ISI.
A Pakistani military helicopter gunship on Sunday attacked Lashkar-e-Toiba's headquarters outside the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, Muzaffarabad. The army overwhelmed militants at the camp after 90 minutes and several were arrested. Pakistan's armed forces have reportedly been mobilised to arrest more Lashkar-e-Toiba leaders in Punjab province.
The sole surviving gunman from the Mumbai assault, Azam Amir Qasab, reportedly told his interrogators he is Pakistani and was recruited and trained for the attack by Lashkar-e-Toiba. India claims all ten gunmen who carried out the Mumbai attacks were Pakistani. The attacks targeted two luxury hotels, the Taj Mahal (photo) and the Oberoi, a Jewish centre and several tourist sites. |