Pakistan shuttered more offices of a charity allegedly linked to the Mumbai attack but said it cannot prosecute key suspects unless India shares evidence ” a sign of Islamabad’s effort to ease international pressure while avoiding a domestic backlash. Successful cooperation between the neighbours in investigating the deadly terror attack could help the US raise a regional effort against al-Qaida and the Taliban along the Pakistan-Afghan border. ` `Pakistan wants to stay engaged with the international community,” said analyst Hasan-Askari Rizvi. “That means Pakistan will have to pursue these policies of banning groups and arresting certain people over some time to establish credibility.” The Interior Ministry said Friday that police have closed 65 Jamaat-ud-Dawa offices and arrested 31 activists.
Pakistan also put the charity’s leader, Lashkar founder Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, under house arrest and ordered banks to freeze the group’s assets. Still, the shaky civilian government must pay heed to the potential for a popular outcry if it acts too strongly. “Our own investigations cannot proceed beyond a certain point without provision of credible information and evidence pertaining to Mumbai attacks,” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said. Analysts say promoting peace between India and Pakistan could help quell Taliban and al-Qaida activities in Pakistan’s northwest by removing an incentive for the Pakistani military to nurture extremists as proxy fighters.
The US, whose troops in Afghanistan are threatened by militants across the border in Pakistan, has pressed the Pakistanis to cooperate with India. In New Delhi on Friday, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said it is imperative “these attacks be thoroughly investigated.” Some analysts say violence in Pakistan appears to have forged greater consensus in military and political circles that nurturing extremists threatens the viability of the nation. “This is an opportunity because the international community will support Pakistan if they take action,” Rizvi said. Mahesh Rangarajan, an Indian political analyst, noted the reaction of India’s government so far has been “very measured,” with top officials explicitly saying war is not an option. “But India has to share some evidence,” he said. “At some stage there has to be cooperation with Pakistan. If Pakistan’s action is serious, it will create some sense of trust.”
this news published by www.apakistannews.com
