- Title: PAKISTAN: Investigators following "important leads"
- Date: 5th March 2009
- Summary: ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (MARCH 04, 2009) (REUTERS) SECURITY AT FOREIGN MINISTRY ENTRANCE (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) PAKISTANI FOREIGN MINISTER SHAH MEHMOOD QURESHI SHAKING HANDS WITH SRI LANKAN FOREIGN MINISTER ROHITHA BOGALLAGAMA QURESHI LISTENING BOGALLGAMA SITTING WIDE OF MEETING INSIGNIA OF PAKISTAN'S FOREIGN MINISTRY QURESHI AND BOGALLAGAMA ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAKISTANI FOREIGN MINISTER SHAH MEHMOOD QURESHI, SAYING: "I've briefed him on the Lahore incident. I've shared some of our initial reports. I've also shared with him that today, now, we have some details and we also have some important leads that would eventually unearth the people responsible for this terrible act." REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) SRI LANKAN FOREIGN MINISTER ROHITHA BOGALLAGAMA, SAYING: "That is a matter that we are keenly studying and we are not ruled out that. We don't want to do investigations in the media and therefore let the investigation reveal this. We are closely working with the authorities in Pakistan and we strongly believe that terrorist organisations are having links with one another and this all we will be looking at this." REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) SRI LANKAN FOREIGN MINISTER ROHITHA BOGALLAGAMA, SAYING: "We'll play our role in order to further strengthen our ties in the sporting world. And when an appropriate invitation is extended for a Sri Lankan cricket team to visit Pakistan in the future, that will receive our most highest consideration. We don't want to see Pakistan getting isolated in the cricketing world." QURESHI AND BOGALLAGAMA STANDING AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAKISTANI FOREIGN MINISTER SHAH MEHMOOD QURESHI, SAYING: "Our message - a joint message - to the terrorists is that we stand shoulder to shoulder to defeat you, and we will." PHOTOGRAPHERS QURESHI AND BOGALLGAMA LEAVING INTERIOR MINISTRY BUILDING PAKISTAN'S TOP INTERIOR MINISTRY OFFICIAL REHMAN MALIK SITTING WITH U.S. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION DIRECTOR ROBERT MUELLER MUELLER LAUGHING MALIK TALKING U.S DELEGATION U.S AMBASSADOR ANNE PATTERSON SECURITY OFFICIALS WIDE OF MEETING
- Embargoed: 20th March 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Pakistan
- Country: Pakistan
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
- Reuters ID: LVA1OR69RVBHT5NBRRF8WXX80HBP
- Story Text: Pakistani investigators were following "important leads" to identify who was behind the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Wednesday (March 4).
The ambush in broad daylight, and the apparent ease with which around a dozen gunmen escaped after nearly a 30 minute fire fight with police sent shudders through a world fearful of nuclear-armed Pakistan's inability to contain rising militancy.
"I've also shared with him that today, now, we have some details and we also have some important leads that would eventually unearth the people responsible for this terrible act,"
Qureshi told a joint news conference with his Sri Lankan counterpart in Islamabad.
Qureshi said he was unable to share details of those leads without compromising the investigation, but he said Pakistan had "very good information" which would be shared with Sri Lanka first, before going public.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said this was the first attack on its nationals outside the country and he did not rule out possibility that the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) movement was involved.
"That is a matter that we are keenly studying and we are not ruled out that. We don't want to do investigations in the media and therefore let the investigation reveal this. We are closely working with the authorities in Pakistan and we strongly believe that terrorist organisations are having links with one another and this all we will be looking at this," Bogollagama said.
The Tamil Tigers are close to military defeat in northern Sri Lanka and have a history of deadly guerrilla attacks.
Desperate for leads, police rounded up scores of people without establishing any link, according to officials, though one mid-level officer in the probe told Reuters a cellphone had been found that had led to the arrest of at least one genuine suspect.
Seven Pakistanis, including six police and the driver of a bus carrying match officials, were killed in Tuesday's attack on the Sri Lankan team as it was being driven to the Gadaffi Stadium for the third day of a match against Pakistan.
Six Sri Lankan players were wounded along with two team officials, including a British assistant coach. They flew back to Colombo along with the rest of the tour party on Tuesday (March 03) night.
The reverberations were felt across the cricketing world and eyond, with U.S. President Barack Obama expressing deep concern.
But Bogallagama said the incident would not affect relations between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
"We'll play our role in order to further strengthen our ties in the sporting world. And when an appropriate invitation is extended for a Sri Lankan cricket team to visit Pakistan in the future, that will receive our most highest consideration. We don't want to see Pakistan getting isolated in the cricketing world,"
he said.
Pakistan has reeled under a wave of bomb and gun attacks in recent years, mostly carried out by Islamist militants linked to the Taliban or al Qaeda, but arch nationalists would relish a link being found between rival India and the Lahore attack.
Speculation has otherwise focused largely on two Pakistani jihadi groups -- Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Laskhar-Jhangvi (LeJ), as well as the Pakistani Taliban.
"Our message - a joint message - to the terrorists is that we stand shoulder to shoulder to defeat you, and we will," Qureshi told the news conference.
U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation director Robert Mueller held talks with Pakistani officials in Islamabad on Wednesday to follow up on the probe into the Mumbai attacks, having previously met with Indian officials in New Delhi. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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