LAHORE – Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had told Senators John McCain, Joseph Lieberman and Lindsey Graham that the Pakistan government would take action against individuals implicated in the Mumbai attacks as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had urged, India’s The Hindu newspaper reported, quoting a confidential cable released by WikiLeaks.
On December 6, the prime minister, joined by then Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, had said the government had already begun the process of seeking the arrest of individuals named by the secretary during her December 4 meetings in Islamabad and had already agreed to work through the UN 1267 Committee to designate these individuals, the newspaper quoted the cable as stating.
The senators said they were reassured by these commitments of government action. The Pakistan government’s efforts to improve contact and relations with neighbours Afghanistan and India would continue despite the high tensions over Mumbai, pledged Gilani and Qureshi. The cable stated that Gilani told the senators he spoke with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh immediately after the Mumbai attacks and committed Pakistan’s full intelligence cooperation.
Secretary Rice had told the Pakistan government that the US government wanted Pakistan to place no holds in the UN 1267 Committee for individuals suspected of involvement in the Mumbai attacks. The Pakistan government had already agreed, said Gilani in response. The secretary also wanted individuals arrested. Gilani told the senators: “We have already taken steps.”
Qureshi asked the senators to keep this news – that the Pakistan government actions against individuals named by the secretary were already underway – private, and not to repeat it to the media, said the cable quoted by The Hindu.
Qureshi underscored Pakistan’s commitment to improving relations with India, said the cable quoted by the newspaper, but also said there could be elements who wanted to scuttle these efforts, but the government’s intent was to diffuse the situation.
