UK tells Pak its time for action, not words

ISLAMABAD: In a stern message to Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, Britain on Sunday asked it to root out terrorists operating from its soil saying "time has come for action and not words" and offered it a comprehensive USD 9 million pact, the largest of its kind ever undertaken by the UK, to combat the menace.
    
British Premier Gordon Brown, who met President Asif Ali Zardari shortly after flying in from Delhi, said that three-quarters of major terror plots investigated in the UK had links to al-Qaeda in Pakistan.
   
"We will work to ensure that everything is done to make sure that terrorists are denied any safe haven in Pakistan. The time has come for action and not words," Brown told a joint press conference with President Asif Ali Zardari.

He said Zardari had reassured him during their talks that Pakistani authorities were "determined to act against those who were behind the Mumbai attacks".
    
"The President has assured me that he is taking further action to clamp down on terrorists suspected of involvement in Mumbai (attacks)," said Brown, who repeated his comments about links between terror plots in Britain and al-Qaeda in  Pakistan at least four times during the news conference.
    
Zardari renewed his offer to cooperate with India in probing the Mumbai terror attacks and said Pakistan had also proposed formation of a joint investigation team.
    
He said he had learnt from media reports, and "not directly from (the Indian) government", that India still had not completed its investigation into the Mumbai attacks.

"I am hoping that once the Indian government completes the investigation and shares the information with us, we will have further leads to find if there are any culprits on this side of the border. We shall take action against them," Zardari said.
    
The British premier proposed a new counter-terrorism pact with Pakistan, saying he wanted to expand the counter-terrorism assistance programme with Pakistan to make it the "most comprehensive programme Britain has signed with any country".
    
The new proposals include a six-million pound (USD nine million) programme to tackle the "causes of radicalisation and to strengthen the democratic institutions of Pakistan".
    
Britain will also help develop Pakistani bomb disposal capability, provide scanning equipment, particularly to help detect car bombs, improve airport security, finance and help set up anti-extremism centres, help with legislation against terrorism where necessary and strengthen information-sharing between police forces, especially in forensics and crisis response.
    
Earlier, Brown, who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, said that the outrageous attacks in Mumbai were carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba and made it clear that Islamabad will have a "great deal to answer for".

Brown said the assistance proposed by Britain is aimed at breaking "the chain of terror that links the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan to the streets of the UK and other countries around the world".
 
Replying to a question on whether the evidence provided by the US and Britain regarding the Mumbai attacks was not enough for Pakistan to act on, Zardari indicated he would prefer to wait till New Delhi shared the findings of its probe with Islamabad.
 
"When the Indians are investigating and the incidents happened there, to say that we could come up with proof earlier than they can, would be asking for a little (too) much from us. We are investigating and we are using all possible assistance from the international community," Zardari said.  

Asked by a Pakistani journalist if Islamabad's offer to cooperate with New Delhi in probing the Mumbai carnage amounted to appeasement, Zardari said, "I deny that I am appeasing anybody, I am assisting the world and myself and Pakistan.
       
"We are committed to fight against terrorism of any form, whether it's in India, Britain, America or any other part of the world."
 
Noting that he was himself a victim of terrorism, Zardari said: "We consider this an opportunity to be able to cooperate with India to take the relationship with India on another level." He pointed out that Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had been in India at the time of the attacks to sign a "mutual agreement on cooperation in terrorism".
 
Brown said both he and Zardari felt "concern and anger" at the Mumbai attacks, which he described as a "human tragedy on a terrible scale". Brown also said that after his talks on Sunday with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Zardari, he felt "reassured that the leadership of both countries want to choose the path of diplomacy and greater understanding".

The British premier said he had asked both his Indian counterpart and Zardari to allow British police to question suspects arrested in both countries in connection with the Mumbai attacks. He indicated that he was awaiting a response from both the leaders.
 
Brown said he had discussed with Prime Minister Singh several measures to combat terror, including "counter-terrorism cooperation at the highest level". He said he had also held talks on improving airport security, "help against radicalisation" and other measures to support Indian security authorities in information and data sharing with different countries.
 
"All of us  Pakistan, the rest of the world and Britain  have an interest in India being able to step up its counter-terrorism preparations and capabilities," Brown said.
 
Brown said Zardari had assured him of "his determination that there are better mechanisms for dialogue and consultation with India so that any misunderstandings about what is being done can actually be removed".
 
Britain's interest in helping Pakistan fight terrorism was not linked only to friendship between the two countries and a desire to support Zardari, Brown said.
 
He said it was also because "people in Britain know that what can happen in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan can affect directly what happens in the streets of our cities and towns, what can happen in Afghanistan and Pakistan can end up with people in Britain and other countries feeling less secure".