'Mumbai attackers could be Pakistanis'

Islamabad, Dec 31: Pakistan on Tuesday, Dec 30 said for the first time admitted that the 26/11 Mumbai attackers could be Pakistan nationals. In an interview to CNN-IBN news channel Pak National Security Adviser (NSA) Mahmud Ali Durrani said, "Could be... could be - that's all I will say as of now, while the investigations are still being completed."

His comments are of high significance as Pakistan has officially denied its involvement in the Mumbai terror strikes. It had even refused to acknowledge the nationality of Azam Amir Kasav alias Ajmal Amir Iman, the lone terrorist caught alive.

Pakistan is officially continuing its denial mode even after the Indian External Affairs Ministry forwarded the letter from Kasav to Pak High Commisioner in New Delh, seeking Consular access. When asked about this Durrani said, "We have got that letter. I have seen that letter. We have been provided some intelligence information and based on these intelligence information we are working out.'

'There could be possible connection and we are looking at that... but we don't have proof,' he added.

Pak NSA also denied the movement of army in the international borders and said the reports about Pakistan creating 'war hysteria' is not true. 'I think what happens in the situations like this ... truth becomes the casualty. The bottomline is, Pakistan does not want confrontation with India because it is neither in the interest of India nor in the interest of Pakistan,' he said.

He said that his nation wants cooperation with India to get rid of the menace of terrorism. "I would like to say that we are not mobilised... we are not on a high alert," he said.

"Yes, some elements of our military would be on high alert because the worry is that probably there has been limited amount of mobilisation from India. This is our assessment and to protect our self there was a level of alert not more than...It was a reaction more than an action," he said.

Pakistan continues to flip flop. We must wait and watch next what stand the nation is going to take regarding its involvement in Mumbai strikes and curbing the terror outfits functioning there.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)