Pakistan seeks India's evidence on Mumbai

Cooperation could help US efforts

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan shuttered more offices of a charity allegedly linked to the Mumbai attack yesterday, but said it cannot prosecute key suspects unless India shares evidence - a sign of Islamabad's effort to ease international pressure while avoiding a domestic backlash.

Successful cooperation between the nuclear-armed neighbors in investigating the deadly terrorist attack could help the United States raise a regional effort against Al Qaeda and the Taliban along the Pakistan-Afghan border.

Pakistan and India have fought three wars in 61 years, and deep distrust colors their relations. But Pakistan's need for foreign aid and worries over its own rising violence by Islamic militants could push the government to go further, analysts said.

"Pakistan wants to stay engaged with the international community," said analyst Hasan-Askari Rizvi. "That means Pakistan will have to pursue these policies of banning groups and arresting certain people over some time to establish credibility."

Since last month's attack on India's commercial capital, in which more than 170 people were killed, Pakistan has arrested at least two of the operation's reputed masterminds. Officials began closing offices of an Islamic charity, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, after the UN Security Council branded it a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, the outlawed Pakistan-based extremist group blamed for the Mumbai assault.

The Interior Ministry said yesterday that police have closed 65 Jamaat-ud-Dawa offices and arrested 31 activists. Pakistan also put the charity's leader, Lashkar founder Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, under house arrest and ordered banks to freeze the group's assets.

Still, the shaky civilian government must pay heed to the potential for a popular outcry if it acts too aggressively. Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which insists it cut ties to Lashkar after that group was banned in 2002, runs schools and clinics and has helped earthquake victims, gaining support among a population suspicious of both India and the United States.

In a first sign of dissent, about 500 people marched to a UN office in Pakistan's portion of divided Kashmir yesterday chanting slogans against the United Nation and India. Among their chants: "India, your death came, Lashkar came, Lashkar came!"

Indian authorities have released what they say are the names and Pakistani hometowns of the 10 gunmen who attacked Mumbai. After interrogating the only surviving attacker, Indian investigators allege all 10 were trained in Pakistan.

Pakistani officials insist they won't extradite any suspects to India, and they have repeatedly said their longtime rival has not handed over any evidence to support its claims about the attack's origins and backers.

"Our own investigations cannot proceed beyond a certain point without provision of credible information and evidence pertaining to Mumbai attacks," Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said.

Analysts say promoting peace between India and Pakistan could help quell Taliban and Al Qaeda activities in Pakistan's northwest.

Some analysts say violence in Pakistan appears to have forged greater consensus in military and political circles that nurturing extremists threatens the viability of the nation.