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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistan won't rule out foreign hand in cricket attack |
| 2009-03-07 |
| Pakistan's interior ministry chief said yesterday he could not rule out foreign involvement in the Sri Lankan cricket attack, as press speculation mounted that home-grown militants were to blame. The preliminary investigations in the attack on Sri Lankan cricket team have suggested that Lashkar-e-Taiba activists, who went underground after a crackdown on the group last year, could have carried out the assault. Local newspapers on Friday suggested that preliminary investigations pointed to the involvement of home-grown militant outfits, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which India blamed for the Mumbai attacks. The initial probe suggested that a group of "headstrong" LeT activists, who went underground and hid in the garrison city of Rawalpindi after the crackdown on the terrorist group and its front organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawah, had acted on its own and carried out the attack, the Dawn newspaper quoted its sources as saying. Though officials did not confirm the involvement of the LeT, the daily said they categorically ruled out the possibility of the involvement of India's Research and Analysis Wing or the LTTE in the attack as no evidence had been found so far in this regard. Investigators probing the assault on the cricket team believe the attackers received commando training in the camp of LeT's operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi as their modus operandi had similarities with that of the terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks. Six Pakistani police and two civilians were killed on Tuesday when gunmen ambushed the team en route to a Test match in the eastern city of Lahore. Seven Sri Lankan cricketers and a coach were among 19 people wounded. "I cannot rule out (involvement of a) foreign hand in the incident," Rehman Malik told reporters in Lahore. He was asked if Sri Lanka's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam could be linked to the attacks -- which have triggered serious international concern about Pakistan's ability to combat Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants. "We are keeping this aspect in mind," said Malik. Malik's comments appeared to contradict remarks widely attributed to him on Thursday, denying any foreign involvement in the attack. "We have not found any leads suggesting the involvement of any religious elements," Malik said. But he refused to divulge information about how the probe was progressing. Up to 12 men attacked the convoy of officials, coaches and players, firing automatic weapons, grenades and a rocket launcher as the vehicles approached Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium on Tuesday. All the attackers fled without trace. |
| Posted by:Fred |