Jan 30, 2009

World - Pak might prosecute some terrorists for Mumbai attacks: Report

ISLAMABAD: Some of the terrorists detained by Pakistan in connection with the Mumbai attacks are likely to be prosecuted with the completion of the
country's probe into the terrorist incident, a media report has said.

Pakistani investigators have completed their probe into the alleged links between some of the 124 terrorists detained in the country and the Mumbai attacks, a senior unnamed Pakistani government official told CBS News.

The official said it was likely that some of those detained in Pakistan "will be prosecuted on charges that have yet to be spelled out". He did not elaborate.

Western diplomats responding to the news said a prosecution of this kind would be the first ever undertaken by Pakistan.

A senior Western diplomat said Pakistan is considering trying some of the suspects under its cyber crime laws, based on evidence that the Internet and other communication technology were used between the attackers and their backers in Pakistan.

"This is a way to put these people behind bars," said a diplomat who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity.

India has blamed Pakistan-based elements, including members of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group, for masterminding and coordinating the Mumbai attacks. It has asked Pakistan to hand over these elements.

A media report earlier said that a preliminary probe into the Indian dossier on the Mumbai attacks had established that the terrorist strike was not planned within Pakistan.

Pakistan has banned the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a front for the LeT, after the Mumbai attacks and sealed dozens of its offices. Over 120 members of both groups have also been detained, interior ministry chief Rehman Malik has said.

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