Zardari: Pakistan, India must continue peace process to foil terrorists

Asif Ali Zardari also vowed to crack down on anyone involved in the attacks who was residing in Pakistan, saying a raid Sunday on a training camp run by the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba group was evidence of his resolve.

"Pakistan is committed to the pursuit, arrest, trial and punishment of anyone involved in these heinous attacks," he wrote in an opinion piece for The New York Times.

Sunday's raid in Pakistani Kashmir was Islamabad's first reported response to intense Indian and U.S demands for it to act against alleged perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks on its soil.

Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who India has said was a mastermind of the assaults, and several other members of the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba were arrested, an intelligence official and a senior government official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

The government has not officially released the names of those it is holding.

Late Monday, the military said it has begun "intelligence-led" operations against banned groups like Lashkar, but gave no more details.

Analysts say Lashkar-e-Taiba was created in the 1980s by Pakistan's intelligence agencies to act as a proxy fighting force in Indian Kashmir. India accuses it in the Mumbai attacks.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since 1947, but ties between the nuclear-armed neighbors had been improving in recent years and a slow-moving peace process was under way.

U.S. officials fear a serious disruption in relations would dent its hopes for regional stability needed to better fight al-Qaida along the Afghan border.

"To foil the designs of the terrorists, the two great nations of Pakistan and India ... must continue to move forward with the peace process," Zardari wrote.

1|2|Next Page>>

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email