Thursday, August 27, 2009

Saeed: Test of Pakistan's Resolve

NEW DELHI, Aug 26: Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna has said the world must take notice of the Interpol alert against Hafiz Saeed of the Jamaatud Dawa.

“I think the world should take note of these developments and then you know they will have to come to their own conclusions,” Mr Krishna told reporters on Wednesday.

He said Indian officials had painstakingly collected evidence against the “perpetrators of last year’s attacks in Mumbai”.

“India can only do this much and nothing beyond, and we have done whatever we can and we will continue to impress on Pakistan the desirability of curbing terror.”

Mr Krishna said the people behind the Mumbai attacks would have to be brought to justice.

A notice on Interpol’s website identified Hafiz Saeed as “Hafiz Saab Sayed”. The agency said an arrest warrant for him had been issued in Mumbai for various offences including “crimes against life and health”, kidnapping and terrorism.

Interpol says many of its member countries consider a red notice a valid request for provisional arrest. Pakistani government spokesmen were not available for comment.

India had on several occasions given Pakistan information with the aim of helping build a case against Saeed, but Mr Krishna said the information had been rejected.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik told a television station that Pakistan still needed “solid evidence” against Saeed.

Pakistan has arrested at least five people and put them on trial for the Mumbai assault, but Indian officials say Saeed’s case is a test of whether Pakistan is serious about dismantling the “terrorist network” on its soil. Saeed is one of 38 people, including Pakistani nationals, accused by India of planning the guns-and-grenades attack by 10 gunmen late last year. —Reuters

From here.

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