From correspondents in Washington | December 03, 2008
PAKISTANI President Asif Ali Zardari strongly denied his country was involved in the Mumbai attacks, saying the gunmen were "stateless actors" seeking to hold the world hostage.
"I think these are stateless actors who have been operating throughout the region," he told CNN's Larry King.
"The gunmen, whoever they are, they are all stateless actors who are holding hostage the whole world.''
Pakistan has offered to work hand-in-hand with India to track down those responsible for the Mumbai attacks but declined to respond immediately to a demand that it hand over 20 terrorist suspects.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi suggested setting up a "joint investigation mechanism" into the assaults, which left 188 dead.
As tensions mounted between the nuclear-armed neighbours over the siege of India's financial capital, India demanded that Pakistan arrest and extradite the list of terror suspects.
But Mr Qureshi did not respond to the handover request, saying the government wanted proof of India's allegation that all the attackers were Pakistanis.
Among the suspects was Hafiz Saeed, the founder of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group that has been accused of carrying out last week's dramatic assault on Mumbai.
CNN and other US networks reported that the United States had warned India in October hotels and business centres in Mumbai would be targeted by attackers coming from the sea.
One US intelligence official had named the Taj Mahal hotel, one of 10 sites hit in the 60-hour siege by gunmen, as a specific target, ABC television said. It said Indian intelligence officials intercepted a phone call on November 18 to an address in Pakistan used by the head of Lashkar-e-Taiba, revealing a possible attack from the sea.
About 10 gunmen landed in rubber dinghies in Mumbai last Wednesday and wreaked havoc with automatic weapons and hand grenades, in an assault that killed 188 and injured more than 300. The dead included 22 foreign nationals.
India's security and intelligence agencies have come under intense criticism over their handling of the incident.
"Such comprehensive failure was held up to the world's view during 60 hours of unprecedented trauma, featuring 10 heavily armed terrorists who sailed into Mumbai from Pakistan and penetrated Indian defences as if it was child's play," The Hindu newspaper said yesterday.
PAKISTANI President Asif Ali Zardari strongly denied his country was involved in the Mumbai attacks, saying the gunmen were "stateless actors" seeking to hold the world hostage.
"I think these are stateless actors who have been operating throughout the region," he told CNN's Larry King.
"The gunmen, whoever they are, they are all stateless actors who are holding hostage the whole world.''
Pakistan has offered to work hand-in-hand with India to track down those responsible for the Mumbai attacks but declined to respond immediately to a demand that it hand over 20 terrorist suspects.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi suggested setting up a "joint investigation mechanism" into the assaults, which left 188 dead.
As tensions mounted between the nuclear-armed neighbours over the siege of India's financial capital, India demanded that Pakistan arrest and extradite the list of terror suspects.
But Mr Qureshi did not respond to the handover request, saying the government wanted proof of India's allegation that all the attackers were Pakistanis.
Among the suspects was Hafiz Saeed, the founder of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group that has been accused of carrying out last week's dramatic assault on Mumbai.
CNN and other US networks reported that the United States had warned India in October hotels and business centres in Mumbai would be targeted by attackers coming from the sea.
One US intelligence official had named the Taj Mahal hotel, one of 10 sites hit in the 60-hour siege by gunmen, as a specific target, ABC television said. It said Indian intelligence officials intercepted a phone call on November 18 to an address in Pakistan used by the head of Lashkar-e-Taiba, revealing a possible attack from the sea.
About 10 gunmen landed in rubber dinghies in Mumbai last Wednesday and wreaked havoc with automatic weapons and hand grenades, in an assault that killed 188 and injured more than 300. The dead included 22 foreign nationals.
India's security and intelligence agencies have come under intense criticism over their handling of the incident.
"Such comprehensive failure was held up to the world's view during 60 hours of unprecedented trauma, featuring 10 heavily armed terrorists who sailed into Mumbai from Pakistan and penetrated Indian defences as if it was child's play," The Hindu newspaper said yesterday.
Source: The Australian from Agence France-Presse
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