Hillary pleases India; presses Pakistan on Zawahiri, Saeed
08 May, 2012
KOLKATA: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday that Pakistan had not taken enough action against Hafiz Saeed, the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) chief blamed for masterminding the 2008 attack on Mumbai.
India has repeatedly called on Pakistan to bring Saeed to justice, an issue that has stood in the way of rebuilding relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours since the carnage in Mumbai, where gunmen killed 166 people over three days.
"We're well aware that there has not yet been the steps taken by the Pakistani government to do what both India and the United States have repeatedly requested them they do," Clinton told a town-hall meeting in Kolkata.
"And we're going to keep pushing that point. So it's a way of raising the visibility and pointing out to those who are associated with him that there is a cost for that," she said.
The US secretary of state also said the United States believes al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri is somewhere in Pakistan. She said Washington was "intent upon going after those who are trying to keep al Qaeda operational and inspirational", and it was in Pakistan's interest to pursue them too.
"Our position on Hafiz Saeed is clear. We have an independent and active judiciary. If anyone has proof against him, they are welcome to take it to the courts," Moazzam Ali Khan, spokesman for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, said.
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