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Last Updated: Nov 2nd, 2009 - 17:32:57 |
MUMBAI (Reuters) - India on Monday demanded Pakistan take swift action over deadly attacks in Mumbai it said were carried out by militants from its rival neighbor.
Indian investigators said the Islamist gunmen who raided India's financial capital, killing 183 people in a three-day assault, had months of commando training in Pakistan.
The fallout prompted a second senior politician from the ruling Congress party to resign as fury grew among Indians over apparent intelligence lapses and a slow response from security forces.
The attacks against two luxury hotels and other landmarks in the city of 18 million are a setback for improving ties between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.
After days of fingerpointing, India called the Pakistani ambassador in New Delhi to the foreign ministry.
"He was informed that the recent terrorist attack on Mumbai was carried out by elements from Pakistan. Government expects that strong action would be taken against those elements, whosoever they may be, responsible for this outrage," a foreign ministry statement said.
RICE TO VISIT
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was due to visit India on Wednesday, underscoring the gravity with which Washington saw the regional implications. Pakistan is a close ally in the U.S. "war on terrorism" launched after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
"I don't want to jump to any conclusions myself on this, but I do think that this is a time for complete, absolute, total transparency and cooperation and that is what we expect (from Pakistan)," Rice told reporters.
Officials in Islamabad have said any escalation of tensions would force it to divert troops to the Indian border and away from a U.S.-led anti-militant campaign on the Afghan frontier.
Rice played down the threat of conflict between the two countries, which almost went to war in 2002 after an earlier attack on India's parliament which also was blamed on the Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group.
The White House said it had heard nothing from investigations so far to suggest Pakistani government involvement and was encouraged by statements that Islamabad was committed to follow the trail of the attackers, wherever it led.
"My administration will remain steadfast in support of India's efforts to catch the perpetrators of this terrible act and bring them to justice," U.S. President-elect Barack Obama said in Chicago after naming his national security team.
Teams from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Britain's Scotland Yard were in Mumbai to help with the probe into the attacks, in which six Americans and one Briton were among the dead.
Two senior Indian investigators told Reuters on condition of anonymity that evidence from the interrogation of Azam Amir Kasav, the only gunmen of the 10 not killed by commandos, showed that Pakistani militants had a hand in the attack.
The clean-shaven, 21-year-old with fluent English was photographed during the attack wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with the Versace logo. He has said his team took orders from "their command in Pakistan," police officials said.
The training was organized by the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, and conducted by a former member of the Pakistani army, a police officer close to the interrogation told Reuters on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak.
Lashkar-e-Taiba made its name fighting Indian rule in Kashmir and had close links to Pakistan's military spy agency in the past, experts say. The government in Islamabad insists it too is fighting the group and other Islamists based on its soil.
"NO ONE ACTED"
India's interior minister, appointed to the post after the attacks, told reporters New Delhi would respond "with determination and resolve" to the threats facing the nation.
"This is a threat to the very idea of India, very soul of India," Palaniappan Chidambaram said.
Days before the Mumbai rampage, Indian authorities were warned of an imminent attack by Islamist gunmen who would arrive by sea, according to a senior coast guard source.
Vilasrao Deshmukh, chief minister of Maharashtra state and a member of the ruling Congress party, offered to resign.
Interior Minister Shivraj Patil also stepped down on Sunday, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he would overhaul the nation's counter-terrorism capabilities.
There have been a series of bomb attacks on Indian cities this year and threats that more would follow, which has given the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party fodder to criticize the ruling party in the run-up to elections due by May.
Mumbai residents returned to schools and offices on Monday for the first time since the attacks.
India's main share index rose 2.6 percent helped by the reshuffle of key posts, before closing down 2.78 percent as foreign funds sold off positions while European markets fell.
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