Indian PM calls on Pakistan to combat terror

INDIA: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that Pakistan must prevent militants from launching attacks across the border, after last week's train blasts in Mumbai that killed 181 people.

"There has to be a firm commitment that Pakistani territory is not used to support terrorist acts directed against our country," Singh said aboard his private plane as he headed to the Group of Eight summit in Saint Petersburg.

"But the commitment has to be backed by action on the ground," Singh told reporters travelling with him, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency.

Singh's strong statement came as Indian police said they had identified two suspects wanted for the train bombings, which rocked the country's financial hub last Tuesday as commuters headed home during the evening rush hour.

Officers declined to give names or details about those they were looking for amid growing complaints over the failure to make any arrests five days after the blasts, which left 900 people injured. "We have a couple of suspects. We're not giving their names," additional commissioner of police Jayjit Singh, responsible for the anti-terrorist squad, told AFP.

"We're looking at so many people, so many theories are in mind."

Mumbai police said they had picked up hundreds of people from different areas of the capital of Maharashtra state for questioning, and that "targeted" swoops were continuing.

Investigators say the identity of the attackers may be hazy but the method employed bore the hallmarks of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist group active in divided Kashmir, claimed in full by both India and Pakistan.

The group, banned by both countries and accused by New Delhi of carrying out other attacks on India, has denied responsibility for the Mumbai blasts.

After visiting the injured in Mumbai hospitals last week, the Indian prime minister said the seven coordinated blasts were carried out with help from "elements across the border", in a reference to Pakistan.

New Delhi, Monday, AFP