Pakistan’s Zardari sincere in terror fight: India

INDIA: India believes Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari is sincere about fighting terror but wants him to match his words with action, a senior government minister was quoted as saying Saturday.

Foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee described Zardari as a “nice man” and a “gentleman” whose wife, former premier Benazir Bhutto, was a victim of a “senseless brutal terror attack,” the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

“I would like to say I believe in his (Zardari’s) sincerity because he himself is a victim of a terror attack,” Mukherjee said, referring to Bhutto’s killing in a gun and suicide attack in December 2007.

“I believe he (Zardari) has a desire to fight against terrorism,” the minister said but added: “My belief is not adequate. It must be backed by action taken by the government and authorities of Pakistan.”

India has been relentless in piling pressure on Islamabad to close down what it says are training camps for Islamic militant groups in Pakistan since the November 26-29 Mumbai militant attacks in which 165 people were killed.

The attacks have led to a sharp spike in tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours, which have fought three wars since independence in 1947.

India blames the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba Islamic group for staging the 60-hour siege in the country’s commercial capital, a charge that Lashkar denies.

New Delhi has also accused Pakistan’s powerful military spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, of involvement in the attacks while steering clear of pointing a finger at the Zardari administration.

In January, Islamabad admitted that the man accused of being the lone surviving gunman involved in the devastating Mumbai attacks was a Pakistani national.

Mohammed Ajmal Amir Iman, also known as Kasab, was alleged to have been a member of the 10-strong Islamist commando-type unit that targeted multiple locations in Mumbai including two luxury hotels, a cafe and a Jewish centre.

New Delhi, AFP