Islamabad: Pakistan will take action
against JuD chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, a prime accused in the
26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, if the India provides
"actionable" and "substantive" evidence on the Lashkar-e-Taiba
founder, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said.
"We had detained him (Saeed). The law does not go by
statements but evidence. If we are provided actionable
evidence, we will act against him," Malik said.
He made it clear that Pakistan would act if India
provides substantive evidence against Saeed.
Malik made the remarks while interacting with Indian
journalists when he was asked about action being taken by
Pakistan against Saeed, described by Indian officials as the
mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed 166
people.
Noting that Pakistani authorities had arrested LeT
commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi on charges of involvement in
the Mumbai incident, Malik said action could be taken against
other suspects like Major Iqbal if more information is
provided about them.
Major Iqbal, an officer of the Inter-Services
Intelligence agency, was named by Pakistan-American LeT
terrorist David Headley during his testimony at the recent
trial of another terror suspect, Tahawwur Rana, in a court in
Chicago.
Malik has sought to rubbish Headley`s testimony
during earlier interactions with the media and he reiterated
that he was not a credible witness.
He questioned where Headley had obtained funds to
travel overseas so frequently.
He contended that Headley should provide sketches of
Major Iqbal so that the latter could be identified.
He further contended that Iqbal was a "common name"
in Pakistan and that even the full name or parentage of the
suspect was not available.
Malik claimed he had sent a set of questions on Major
Iqbal to India but had not got any reply.
It was also important to ascertain how Headley had
become a "double agent", he said.
Malik acknowledged there were delays in the trial of
the seven Pakistani suspects, including Lakhvi, facing charges
of involvement in the Mumbai attacks as the accused were using
every provision of law available to prolong the process.
"Every accused has tried to get bail and we have
fought it at every level. Bail has been denied to them because
of the evidence we provided," he said.
The frequent change of the judge conducting the trail
was not under "executive control" and court processes cannot
be dictated by the executive, he claimed.
Since the trial of the seven Pakistani suspects
began in early 2009, the judge has been changed four times.
The most recent change was made earlier this month
and a new judge is yet to be appointed to hear the case.
In response to another question, Malik said he was
hopeful that a Pakistani judicial commission would soon visit
India to interview key officials, including the magistrate who
recorded the confession of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving
terrorist involved in the Mumbai incident.
Pakistan had received English translation of some
key statements from India last week and authorities are now
hopeful that with all the documents in place, the
anti-terrorism court will constitute the judicial commission
to visit Mumbai, Malik said.
PTI
