ISLAMABAD – A Pakistani court indicted seven Pakistani suspects on terror charges yesterday in connection with last year’s attack on the Indian city of Mumbai, a defence lawyer said.
Pakistani security agencies have also detained a former army major for possible links with two men arrested in Chicago on terrorism charges, an army spokesman said.
According to US court documents, the Chicago pair discussed a planned attack on a Danish newspaper with members of the banned Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which has been blamed for the Mumbai attack a year ago in which 166 people were killed.
Pakistan is under pressure from both India, which wants it to crack down on militants operating in disputed Kashmir, and from the US, which wants it to root out Taliban fighters to help put down an insurgency in nearby Afghanistan.
A lawyer for one of the seven men charged with taking part in the Mumbai attack said they had pleaded not guilty. They are allegedly linked to LeT.
“The statements recorded and the evidence produced against the accused are contradictory to the charges,” said lawyer Shahbaz Rajput.
India has refused to resume peace talks with Pakistan and sought to bring international pressure on Islamabad to act against militants operating from its soil, including LeT.
Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh, speaking in Washington, said he had not yet seen the reports of the seven indictments “but I welcome every step that leads in that direction”.
“It is our strong feeling that the government of Pakistan could do more to bring to book people who are still roaming around the country freely, to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism and I can only hope that their will be progressed in that area,” Mr Singh said.
Washington wants relations between the uneasy, nuclear-armed neighbours to improve so its crucial ally, Pakistan, can focus on fighting Taliban militants.
The US additionally wants Pakistan to help it in the war in Afghanistan.
LeT is not believed to have carried out attacks inside Pakistan but its presence may still worry the government, which wants to demonstrate it is in control despite a battle against militants on several fronts.
It has a large network of support among Pakistanis around the world, raising fears that it could attack western targets.
Last month, David Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana were arrested in Chicago and accused of planning an attack on the Danish newspaper which ran cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005, sparking protests by Muslims in several countries.
Mr Rana is a Pakistan-born Canadian citizen while Mr Headley is an American citizen who had spent time in Pakistan.
LeT has denied links with the Chicago arrests. – (Reuters)