As Pakistan today acknowledged the existence of terror training camps on its soil and announced it was cracking down on militant groups behind the Mumbai terror attack,India indicated a shift in stand,saying if extradition of fugitives was not possible,it would accept their fair trial in Pakistan. External Affairs MInister Pranab Mukherjee told the Aaj Tak news channel that the government would also accept the fair trial of terror suspects in Pakistan. It would be ideal if they (Pakistan) can hand over the fugitives from India to us. If that is not possible,there should at least be a fair trial of these fugitives in Pakistan, Mukherjee said. It should not be a mock trial. It should be transparent and demonstrated. Mukherjees statement came a day after British Foreign Secretary David Miliband made the same point in New Delhi. Until now,India had maintained that Pakistan was bound by international obligations to extradite all terrorists. Pakistan today said it had detained 71 members of outlawed militant groups and put under surveillance 124 others,besides shutting down five training camps of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa and banning its websites. Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said a special investigation team headed by an Additional Director General of the Federal Investigation Agency was being set up to examine without any prejudice all aspects of the Mumbai attacks and the information provided by India. The team would include two other officers with counter-terrorism experience. Asked whether the information given by India on the Mumbai attacks constituted evidence,he replied: We are accepting that information,and we have formed an investigation team with a view to reach the culprits. Giving details of Pakistans investigation in the wake of the Mumbai incident,Malik said 71 members of banned militant groups had been detained so far. Among them were leaders of Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Lashkar-e-Toiba,including Hafiz Mohammed Saeed,the founder of both groups,Mufti Abdur Rehman,Col (retd) Nazir Ahmed,Ameer Hamza and LeT operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. Malik did not say whether any legal proceedings had been initiated against the detained persons. Authorities had shut down eight relief camps and five training camps run by JuD in Punjab province and PoK. Though no evidence was found in these facilities,there were traces that five of them were being used as training camps,he said. Six publications of the JuD,including the weekly Ghazwa,and the groups websites too had been banned,he said. Malik said 124 members of banned groups had also been placed under surveillance for the past six months under the provisions of anti-terror laws. Asked whether the information given by India on the Mumbai attacks constituted evidence,he replied: We are accepting that information,and we have formed an investigation team with a view to reach the culprits. New Delhi,however,was not too pleased about public statements from the Pakistans political leaders and said they would do well to communicate directly with the Indian government. Pranab Mukherjee,in a statement issued by the MEA,said: We have seen statements in the media by the Interior Adviser of Pakistan assuring India of unconditional support in the Mumbai probe,urging India to use direct diplomatic channels with Pakistan,and saying that Islamabad needs more information from India in order to proceed with its own investigation. The material linking the terrorist attacks to Pakistan was handed over formally to the Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi on January 5,2009. Instead of being informed through the media,I would be happy to receive a direct response from Pakistan through existing diplomatic channels,and to see Pakistan implementing her words, he said. In Islamabad,Pakistan PM Yousuf Raza Gilani said there was tremendous public pressure on the Indian government after the Mumbai attacks and insisted there was no threat of war. Both countries are nuclear powers. I think there is no threat of war, Gilani told a news conference.
