Rice urges Pakistani cooperation

NEW DELHI, India – U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday urged Pakistan to act with “resolve and urgency” to help catch those responsible for last week’s terrorist attacks in India, part of a stepped-up U.S. effort to ease tensions between the two nuclear powers.

Yet, even as Rice spoke in New Delhi, tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Mumbai near the scene of the carnage chanting “death to Pakistan,” evidence of the escalating pressure Indian politicians face as they craft their response to the attacks.

India has linked the 10 assailants to a Pakistan-based Islamist group, and many at the Mumbai protest advocated military action to combat a terrorist threat that they say the Pakistani government is either unable or unwilling to confront.

“This crowd is a warning to Pakistan to stop sending terrorists to India. We will not take this any longer,” said Himanshu Majumdar, a 28-year-old accountant. “We have been talking peace with them for so long, what did we get? Terrorists?”

The Pakistani government has denied involvement in the attack, which claimed at least 171 lives and injured nearly 300 people. But Indian authorities have alleged that the attackers received training from former Pakistani army officers, and U.S. intelligence has corroborated their suspicions that the attack was planned and carried out by a Pakistani group, Lashkar-i-Taiba. Indian investigators have said that Yusuf Muzammil, a Lashkar leader thought to be based in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, was among the masterminds.

In New Delhi, Rice said she understood the pain felt by Indians, mentioning the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States several times. “We have some sense of what this is like, the sense of vulnerability, the questions that arise and the desire to make sure it does not happen again,” she said. She also noted that Pakistanis themselves are frequent victims of terrorist attacks.

“We all have a great interest in getting to the bottom of this,” said Rice, who cut short a European farewell tour to meet with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the attacks, in which gunmen struck two hotel complexes, a cafe, a railway terminal, a Jewish center and other sites.

Standing at Rice’s side, Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters that there is no doubt the gunmen and their “controllers” came from Pakistan.

“The government of India is determined to act decisively to protect its territorial integrity and the right of our citizens to a peaceful life with all the means at our disposal,” Mukherjee said.

Rice made demands on both countries. She said that Pakistan had a “special responsibility” to cooperate with India and help prevent attacks. She also warned India against any impulsive moves that could yield “unintended consequences.”

For the first time, Rice said the indiscriminate killing at several sites in India’s financial center bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida, though she did not suggest responsibility.

“Whether there is a direct al-Qaida hand or not, this is clearly the kind of terrorism in which al-Qaida participates … to send a message that people are not safe, that business centers are not safe. We experienced that in New York. What is important now is to go to the source, to follow every lead,” Rice said.

In Pakistan, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with President Asif Ali Zardari and army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani, and urged them “to investigate aggressively any and all possible ties to groups in Pakistan,” according to a statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.