• Statement reverses earlier denials by Islamabad
• India welcomes arrests of six militant suspects
Saeed Shah in Islamabad The Guardian, Friday 13 February 2009
Last November's terrorist attack on Mumbai was planned and launched from Pakistan, authorities in Islamabad said for the first time yesterday, as they revealed they were holding six suspects in connection with the assault.
Pakistan's interior ministry accused eight people of masterminding the atrocity in which 170 people were killed. Six of those are in custody and cases against all the accused were filed yesterday. The ministry said most, possibly all, belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant group which India had accused of carrying out the attack.
Never before has Pakistan appeared to take such action against a significant jihadist outfit in the country. It had been unclear until yesterday whether there was a serious investigation going on in Pakistan, amid Islamabad's denials that there was any proof its citizens were involved. The outcome was welcomed in India as a "positive development".
"Some part of the conspiracy has taken place in Pakistan," Rehman Malik, the prime minister's adviser on internal affairs said yesterday. "I want to assure the international community, I want to assure all those who have been victims of terrorism, that we mean business."
Read more:
Mumbai terror attack planned in Pakistan, top official admits: guardian.co.uk
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