Pak authorities have not seriously probed Mumbai terrorist Kasab's origins

New Delhi/Islamabad, Dec.10 (ANI): Authorities in Pakistan have not seriously investigated the origins of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist who participated in the massacre of nearly 200 people in Mumbai late last month.

There are also doubts whether the release of the names of the terrorists involved in the mayhem would be followed by action.

"There are going to be investigations, but nothing will come of it," The Guardian quoted Ayesha Siddiqa, an analyst and author of the controversial book on the workings of the Pakistan armed forces titled "Military Inc".

"If there is a feeling, in some quarters, that these characters are patriotic, then what are they going to do?" she added.

Siddiqa's comments came as police in Mumbai released the identities and home addresses in Pakistan of the nine gunmen who were killed in Mumbai during a counter-terror operation, a move apparently designed to ratchet up pressure on Islamabad.

Images of eight of the nine were also released, some from passport photographs, with other pictures of the attackers after they had been killed.

Pakistan responded by declaring that it would not hand over any terror suspects it has arrested, though ministers have offered Indian officials the chance to interview those detained as part of a "joint investigation".

Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Jaish-e-Mohammad leader Maulana Masood Azhar are under detention in Pakistan, the former blamed for the attack on Mumbai last month, and the latter for masterminding a strike on the Indian parliament in 2001.

Pakistan's Defence Minister, Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, said officials from Delhi may be allowed to interrogate both suspects in Pakistan, while Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said those detained would be dealt with according to Pakistani laws.

Delhi has spurned previous offers from Pakistan for a joint investigation, saying it wants Islamabad to hand over fugitives who are accused of plotting terror strikes in India.

India says they have pieced together more details of the nine dead militants, saying they were Pakistani men aged 20 to 28.

Their names were given as: Ismail Khan; Hafeez Arshad; Javed, also known as Abdul Ali; Shoaib; Nazir, alias Abu Omer; Nasir, alias Abu Omar; Babar Imran; Abdul Rehman; and Fahadullah. Three of the men were from Multan, two from Faisalabad, one from Sialkot and two from the same Okara district as Ajmal Ameer Kasab, the only gunman captured alive.

The leader of the group was named as Khan, whose home is in Dera Ismail Khan, a town in the lawless badlands near the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Rakesh Maria, joint commissioner of Mumbai police, said his expertise with the global positioning system marked him out. (ANI)