Brown backs India on LeT link with attack

ON THE TERROR TRAIL

Endorsing India’s line that the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) is behind the recent Mumbai carnage, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown today talked tough with Pakistan telling it bluntly that “time has come for action and not words” and that it will have a “great deal to answer for”.

After talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during an unscheduled visit to New Delhi following rising tensions between the two neighbouring countries, Brown asserted that the deadly attacks in Mumbai were carried out by LeT.

Brown later flew to Islamabad where he told reporters after talks with President Asif Ali Zardari that three-fourths of major terror plots investigated in the UK had links to Al Qaeda in Pakistan.

Asking Pakistan to act against terrorists to deny them “safe haven” in its territory , Brown offered it a comprehensive $9-million package under a new counter-terrorism pact between Islamabad and London.

“The time has come for action and not words,” Brown said addressing a joint press conference with Zardari.

The British premier said he had also asked both his Indian counterpart and Zardari to allow British police to question suspects arrested in both countries in connection with the Mumbai attacks. He indicated that he was awaiting a response from both the leaders.

Hinting at building pressure on Pakistan, the British Prime Minister told a select group of journalists in New Delhi that the world community should come together to ensure that there were “no safe havens for terrorists” and “no safe place for those who finance terrorist activities”.