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Pakistan arrests 124 over Mumbai attacks By James Lamont in New Delhi and Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad Published: January 15 2009 11:46 | Last updated: January 15 2009 16:51 Pakistan has bowed to international pressure to punish the suspected perpetrators of terrorist attacks on Mumbai by arresting at least 124 alleged militants, Rehman Malik, the de facto interior minister said. Thursday’s crackdown brought welcome relief to the international community that has become frustrated with Pakistan’s seeming reluctance to take action against those suspected of carrying out the strike on India’s financial capital. Since the November 26 attack, the US and UK have sent wave after wave of senior delegations to Islamabad to secure co-operation and head off an escalation of tension between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. Among those detained in the nationwide round-up were 124 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the militant group that India holds responsible for attack, and Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a now-banned Islamic charity. Mr Malik, interior minister and a close ally of President Asif Ali Zardari, said his government had closed 20 offices, 87 schools and several religious seminaries, or madrassas, run by the Jamaat-ud-Dawa. Its publications have been banned and six websites blocked. “All activities of that particular organisation stand ceased,” Mr Malik said. News of the crackdown coincided with reports that the Pakistani government was creating a high-powered committee that would prepare prosecutions against high-profile militants sought by India, including Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah. These two are thought to have played a key role in planning the Mumbai attacks, including the supply of arms to the attackers. Thursday’s declaration will go some way to satisfy Indian officials exasperated by Pakistan’s response in the face of evidence that the attack was launched from its soil. They accuse Islamabad of not having the political will to put militants on trial or in jail. “House arrest is what the British did when [they] didn’t want someone to lead a demonstration,” said one Indian official scornfully about previous soft detentions of Pakistani militants. India’s response has hardened. Earlier this week, New Delhi threatened to sever trade and tourism ties with Pakistan. As part of the diplomatic offensive, government officials have also threatened to bring pressure to bear on Pakistan’s $7.6bn (€5.8bn, £5.2bn) International Monetary Fund rescue package. They have raised the alarm that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is not secure with powerful militants at large. “Everybody tells us don’t worry [about Pakistan’s nuclear weapons]. We worry,” said one top official who asked not to be named. He claimed some “ideologically motivated” scientists had contacted Osama bin Laden and offered to build al-Qaeda a bomb. The concerns were echoed by General Deepak Kapoor, a senior army officer, in comments to mark India’s 61st Army Day. Pakistan on Thursday moved to allay those concerns. “This is all rubbish. No matter how much our Indian friends raise concern about our nuclear programme, many outside Pakistan including the US know that we have put together sufficient safeguards,” said a senior government official. In spite of India’s insistence that Pakistan is obliged under regional treaties to extradite the Mumbai terrorist suspects to India for trial, diplomats are doubtful whether that will happen. “Our understanding is that Pakistan is ready to prosecute some militants but it won’t extradite anyone to India as some Indian leaders demand,” said one western diplomat in Islamabad.
