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New Delhi, Jan.5 (ANI): U.S. Ambassador to India, David C. Mulford, on Monday said that a team of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is still in Mumbai pursuing leads into the conspiracy that led to the November 2008 terror attacks on Mumbai, and expressed Washingtons determination to get to the bottom of the conspiracy.
Talking on the sidelines of an event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Chancery Building in New Delhi in the presence of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Ambassador Mulford said: The FBI will pursue the evidence which is gathered there (Mumbai). They will take that evidence to Pakistan.
He further went on to say: Under our American laws, if Americans are killed anywhere, the state itself has a duty to pursue, to get to the bottom of it. This the FBI is doing and will do in the coming weeks and months.
Mulfords comment came as the Indian Government handed over to Pakistan evidence of links with elements in Pakistan to the Mumbai terror attack, and said it expected Islamabad to carry out a prompt investigation.
Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon handed over the evidence to Pakistan’’s envoy in India Shahid Malik.
Briefing media persons here, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said: “We have today handed over to Pakistan evidence of the links with elements in Pakistan of the terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008.”
The evidence includes material from the interrogation of Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the Pakistani national who is in police custody for his role in the terror attack, details of the terrorists” communication links with elements in Pakistan during the Mumbai attacks, recovered weapons and equipment and other articles, and data retrieved from recovered GPS and satellite phones.
When told that the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the political wing of the banned militant organization Lashkar-e-Toiba, has changed its name to avoid being constricted in its activities, Ambassador Mulford said: If names are changed, they dont change the spots on leopards.
This comment came as Mukherjee revealed that New Delhi would be briefing all friendly countries about the evidence gathered so far in connection with the Mumbai terror attack.
I have written to my counterparts around the world giving them details of the events in Mumbai and describing in some detail the progress that we have made in our investigations and the evidence that we have collected,” he said.
Mukherjee further said, “The Ministry will also be briefing all resident Heads of Missions here in the next 24 hours. Our Ambassadors will be doing the same in their respective countries of accreditation. This material is linked to elements in Pakistan. It is our expectation that the Government of Pakistan will promptly undertake further investigations in Pakistan and share the results with us so as to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
When asked whether Pakistan, which has so far been in a state of denial, would allow access to the alleged terrorists involved in the attacks on Mumbai, Ambassador Mulford said: The FBI will be granted access to the terrorists.
He used the occasion to also appreciate the Indian Governments cooperation with the FBI team in Mumbai, saying all the evidence gathered from India would be put together with the evidence gathered by the US (FBI), and thereafter, the leads would be pursued to their logical conclusion.
The American Embassy was formally opened on January 5, 1959 in the presence of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and other distinguished guests. It has served since that time as a prestigious symbol of India U.S. relations and as an office for American diplomats based in New Delhi. (ANI)