Mumbai terror suspects arrested, camps shut down in Pakistan

by Sanjay Jha | January 15, 2009 at 01:49 am

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Pakistan Interior secretary Rehman Malik has declared that five Jamaat-ud-Dawa camps have been shut down and several of their leaders including Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi have been arrested.

Malik said the crackdown was in response to the UN's accusation that a Pakistani charity was a front for an outlawed militant group allegedly linked to the Mumbai attacks.

During a press conference, he said that the camps claiming to be doing relief work had actually been militant training camps and had immediately been shut down. It was also announced that Jamaat-ud-Dawa’s websites will be blocked and their publications will be banned.

Interior Adviser Rehman Malik said on Thursday that Pakistan is committed to bringing the perpetrators of Mumbai attacks to justice. He said Pakistan and India were nuclear states and that the Indian government was under intense public pressure to act.

Talking to journalists here, Malik said the government of Pakistan had launched probe into Mumbai attacks soon after the tragic incident occurred. ‘The government has banned Jamaat-ud-Dawah publications and shut down six Dawah’s websites”, advisor said.

Malik further said that 124 activists of Jamaat-ud-Dawah were nabbed including Hafiz Saeed, Mufti Abdur Rehman, Colonnel (Retd.) Nazir Ahmed, Amir Hamza and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and five camps were closed down. He said the FIA was looking into the Indian dossier but more evidence was required.

Interior Advisor said that Pakistan had assured India of its unconditional support to India in Mumbai probe. He urged India to establish direct diplomatic channels with Pakistan for the exchange of information on Mumbai attacks instead of using indirect channels.