President Asif Ali Zardari has said India will be informed in two to three days about Pakistan's preliminary investigation into the information provided by New Delhi on the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
Zardari made this statement at a dinner he hosted last night for the ambassadors of France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Russia, sources told the Dawn newspaper. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik also attended the dinner.
Pakistan is "seriously conducting" its probe and the diplomats should play their role in defusing tensions for the sake of peace in the region, Zardari said.
A 10-day deadline set by Interior Ministry chief Malik for investigators to complete their preliminary probe into the Mumbai attacks ended yesterday. Media reports said Malik had extended the deadline till January 29 after reviewing progress in the probe.
Malik had on January 17 said that the preliminary probe would be completed in 10 days. He had also said that if any Pakistani is found involved in the Mumbai attacks, he would be tried in the country in accordance with Pakistani laws and would not be handed over to India.
Any trial would be held in-camera and the media would be briefed on proceedings through proper channels, sources in the government were quoted by the Dawn.
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The sources said Pakistan wanted to try people found involved in the Mumbai attacks because it "believed that these non-state actors had embarrassed the country and tarnished its image in the world".
Zardari also told the envoys during yesterday's dinner that US drone attacks in the tribal areas are weakening Pakistan's position in the war on terror. "Because of these attacks, the government has been losing people's support in its action against terrorists," he reportedly said.
Noting Pakistan is itself a victim of terrorism, Zardari said the country will not allow its soil to be used for terrorist activities directed against any nation.