Pakistan has defied India's request for the hand over of 20 Lashkar e-Taiba terrorists and leaders today. This refusal to extradite these jihadists to India is only going to fuel the tensions between the two countries. Here's some of the details from DEBKA:
At the same time, this is really Pakistan's new government's first real international crisis where they find themselves having to make some tough decisions. In the past six months, we have seen the Pakistani government back down in most cases - they've backed down on threats to the U.S. over UAV strikes inside the country and we've also seen them back down to the Taliban in several NW provinces.
I would guess that if India's response is adamant enough, we will see some sort of compromise come out of this.
President Asif Ali Zardari Wednesday, Dec. 3, rejected New Delhi's demand to extradite Lashkar e-Taiba chief Hafiz Mohd Sayeed and 19 other fugitives implicated in the Mumbai and other terrorist outrages in India. He said that if evidence were provided, they would be tried in Pakistani courts.Now, this doesn't surprise me in that I doubted that Pakistan would just comply 100% with this demand of India's but at the same time, one has to believe that Pakistan's government isn't dumb enough to just refuse this without some sort of alternative plan. Pakistan has to realize that the Indians are dealing with a public that is going to get only more enraged and demanding of heads to roll. I don't see how the trying of any convicted terrorists in Pakistan of these terrorists will appease India. The crimes were commited in India!
In New Delhi, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice pledged Washington would work with India and Pakistan to find the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack and bring them to trial. She landed in the Indian capital as Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs, arrived in Islamabad to defuse the war tensions between the two subcontinental nuclear countries.
India's wanted list includes also Mumbai underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar. In demanding the fugitives' handover, Indian foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee said his country has every right to protect its territorial integrity and would take appropriate action to deal with terror strikes emanating from Pakistan. He did not rule out military strikes against terror camps across the border.
At the same time, this is really Pakistan's new government's first real international crisis where they find themselves having to make some tough decisions. In the past six months, we have seen the Pakistani government back down in most cases - they've backed down on threats to the U.S. over UAV strikes inside the country and we've also seen them back down to the Taliban in several NW provinces.
I would guess that if India's response is adamant enough, we will see some sort of compromise come out of this.
Pakistan refuses to hand over 20 wanted terrorists as Rice lands in New Delhi
President Asif Ali Zardari Wednesday, Dec. 3, rejected New Delhi's demand to extradite Lashkar e-Taiba chief Hafiz Mohd Sayeed and 19 other fugitives implicated in the Mumbai and other terrorist outrages in India. He said that if evidence were provided, they would be tried in Pakistani courts.
In New Delhi, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice pledged Washington would work with India and Pakistan to find the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack and bring them to trial. She landed in the Indian capital as Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs, arrived in Islamabad to defuse the war tensions between the two subcontinental nuclear countries.
India's wanted list includes also Mumbai underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar. In demanding the fugitives' handover, Indian foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee said his country has every right to protect its territorial integrity and would take appropriate action to deal with terror strikes emanating from Pakistan. He did not rule out military strikes against terror camps across the border. India says the Kashmiri Lashkar e-Taiba group is linked to al Qaeda and Pakistani intelligence.
Zardari questioned the claim that the only surviving gunman was a Pakistani. He said the Mumbai attacks were executed by "stateless actors" who want to hold the whole world, including Pakistan itself, hostage and called for a joint investigation.
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