Pak promises 'transparent' probe into Mumbai attacks

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday called on India to cooperate with it to help bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice while insisting that it will conduct a "transparent and legally tenable inquiry" into the carnage.

Briefing foreign envoys on Pakistan's response to the Mumbai terror attacks and its own probe into information provided by India on the incident, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said "India should cooperate with Pakistan to help bring the culprits of this heinous crime to justice".

Qureshi "stressed that the blame game should be avoided" and "reaffirmed the government's determination to extend full cooperation and assistance in investigating the Mumbai incident," said a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

The meeting, co-chaired by Qureshi and interior ministry chief Rehman Malik, was attended by ambassadors and high commissioners of most foreign missions in Islamabad. Official sources said the Indian High Commissioner was not invited for the meeting because he was briefed by Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir a few days ago.

Qureshi said it is Pakistan's "firm resolve" to fight terrorism.

He said it was "important that India responds positively to Pakistan's proposals for engagement to address meaningfully the issue of terrorism in the region and specific to Mumbai".

In his address, Malik said the government had taken several "concrete steps", including the detention of suspects, launch of a formal inquiry and forming a probe team comprising experts of the elite Special Investigation Group.

He said the terms of reference for the inquiry reflected Pakistan's "intent to conduct a transparent and legally tenable inquiry" and proceed with the prosecution of suspects "in accordance with the law of the land".