Pakistan feels your grief, Musharraf tells Mumbai
By Simon Cameron-Moore Reuters Thursday, July 20, 2006; 2:43 PM
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf appealed to India on Thursday to avoid a "blame game" over last week's Mumbai bombings and called New Delhi's decision to delay peace talks a victory for terrorists.
Condemning the July 11 attacks that killed more than 180 people and wounded hundreds more in India's financial hub, the Pakistani leader gave a message of support to the grieving city.
"I want to tell the people of Mumbai that we are extremely saddened by the loss of lives," he said in a televised address on state-run Pakistan Television.
Imploring New Delhi to keep the two-and-a-half-year peace process moving forward, Musharraf pledged Pakistan's support for India's investigation into the bombings, promising to help catch any terrorist organization if New Delhi could supply evidence.
He made a similar offer after a series of blasts in New Delhi last October, but so far India has neither shared nor asked for information.
Before the peace process began, India gave Pakistan a list of 20 people wanted for terrorist crimes, but Pakistan never acted on the list.
TALIBAN FIGHTERS
Musharraf also spoke of Pakistan's new resolve to deal with Taliban fighters using its territory to attack Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces across the border.
"I want to tell you that we adopted a new strategy to tackle Taliban," Musharraf said, before going on to explain that aside from using force the government was seeking to empower tribal chiefs and invest in development projects in the border areas.
He said Mullah Mohammad Omar was leading Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan, though they were getting some support from the Pakistani tribal areas.
"The bottom line is that no foreigner will live here. Either he leaves the country, or surrenders, or he will be killed. No one will take part in insurgency across the border in Afghanistan," Musharraf said.
Police in the southwestern province of Baluchistan arrested more than 200 Afghan Taliban suspects in a dragnet operation this week, but Musharraf did not mention the operation.
He was speaking on a day the Indian and Pakistani foreign secretaries were to have met in New Delhi to review the peace process. The Indian government postponed the meeting saying the atmosphere was not conducive.
Musharraf said that decision was "in my view a victory for the terrorists."
Indian authorities suspect Indian Muslim militants with ties to either Pakistani based groups or Pakistan's own military spy agency, the Inter Services Intelligence, of being behind the blasts on commuter trains in Mumbai.
"To start this blame game, I feel this is first sign of defeat. We must think and behave carefully and with patience and give comments thoughtfully." Musharraf said.