Pak to ask India to respond to its 30 queries by early March

Rezaul H Laskar

Islamabad, Feb 26 (PTI) Pakistani authorities Wednesday
decided to ask India to respond by early March to a set of 30
questions handed over by them to New Delhi as part of their
reply to the Indian dossier on the Mumbai attacks.
The decision was made at a meeting chaired by Interior
Ministry chief Rehman Malik to take stock of Pakistan's probe
into the November 26 Mumbai strikes, official sources said.

The decision was conveyed to the Foreign Ministry so that
the matter could be taken up with Indian authorities, they
said.
The remand of four suspects in the Mumbai attacks --
Lashkar-e-Taiba activists Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Zarar Shah,
Abu al Qama and Hamad Amin Sadiq -- ends on March 3 and it is
believed that the Indian response to Pakistan's 30 questions
is crucial for further proceedings against them.
The sources said the request for an early response to the
questions could figure in a proposed meeting between the
Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan on the sidelines of
the SAARC ministerial meet in Colombo.

Pakistan had handed over the 30 questions seeking further
information on the Mumbai attacks along with its response to
the Indian dossier on February 12.

Among other things, Pakistan has sought copies of the
intercepted phone conversations between the Mumbai attackers
and their handlers and reports of the forensic analysis of
cellular and satellite phones.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said last week that
Pakistan would take the next step in its probe into the Mumbai
attacks after receiving India's reply to the 30 queries.
Interior Ministry chief Malik has said that Pakistani
authorities have so far detained six suspects in connection
with the Mumbai attacks. They include the four LeT members who
have been remanded to the custody of the Federal Investigation
Agency by an anti-terrorism judge.
Two other suspects remain at large, he said. Ajmal Amir
Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive during the attacks,
has also been named in the FIR filed by Pakistani authorities.