ISLAMABAD: British Foreign Secretary David Miliband yesterday stepped up the pressure on Pakistan to act more quickly against extremist networks operating on its soil in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.
His visit here comes on the heels of a high-profile trip to India, during which he called on Islamabad to show “zero tolerance” toward militant groups blamed by India for the attacks, which left 179 dead.
“The whole international community wants Pakistan to go further and go faster,” Miliband told a press conference in Islamabad after meetings with key Pakistani leaders including Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
“I want the Pakistan government to take action because British people have been hurt ... because terrorism from Pakistan is a threat to the stability of the whole region.” Miliband said, however, he believed the government in Islamabad was “serious in its commitment to prosecute those associated with the Mumbai attacks. Steps have been taken.”
New Delhi has blamed the banned Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which is fighting Indian rule in divided Kashmir, for the November bloodbath in Mumbai.
Islamabad has said it is doing all it can to crack down on militant groups, announcing Thursday that it had so far detained more than 70 members of an Islamic charity linked to LeT and placed 124 others under surveillance. Pakistan has also confirmed that the lone surviving Mumbai gunman is one of its citizens.
Earlier, an aide to Gilani told AFP the prime minister “reiterated that his government would do whatever it can (on Mumbai) and would move fast in acting against those who are proven to be involved.”
Miliband said: “I believe that your government is committed to tackling terrorism, to finding and prosecuting and punishing if they are found guilty the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks.” His visit comes one month after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged $9 million to help Pakistan tackle militancy during his own visit to Islamabad.
Terrorism “is the greatest threat to the state of Pakistan. It is also vital that the Pakistani authorities lead the longer-term work to root out terrorism at the source and that is a political, economic and social as well as security or military requirement,” Miliband added. He said this required the support of the international community and the community was ready to provide its support.
— With input from agencies
