No evidence of UK link: Brown

LONDON: Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Friday there was no evidence to confirm reports that Britons of Pakistani origin were involved in the attacks in Mumbai, but warned it was too soon to reach any conclusions. London’s Evening Standard newspaper, quoting Indian government sources, had reported that some of the gunmen were British. A British security source told Reuters the reports could just be speculative but might contain “elements of truth”. “We are keeping an open mind. It is likely to take a little bit longer before we can say categorically one way or the other,” the source said.
Brown told reporters he had talked to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the attacks, in which more than 140 people were killed and hundreds of others injured. “At no point has the prime minister of India suggested to me that there is evidence at this stage of any terrorist of British origins,” he said. “But obviously there are huge investigations that are being done and I think it would be premature to draw any conclusions at all.”

The British Foreign Office said it had spoken to Indian authorities at what it called a high level. “They have said that there is no evidence that anyone, either those shot or those in custody — the attackers — are British,” a Foreign Office spokesman said.