Rejecting India's demand to extradite the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks to the country, Pakistan has said such a move will be "harmful" for it as there was no extradition treaty between the two neighbours. Foreign Minister of Pakistan Shah Mehmood Qureshi gave this information to the media.

 

He was asked whether India and America have made demands for handing over terror suspects -- Lashkar-e-Toiba operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azar and Hafiz Mohammed Saeed.

 

Qureshi said Pakistan has conducted its own "independent investigations" into the charges of Pakistani elements involved in the Mumbai terror strikes and that it will do everything in the interests of India and Pakistan.

 

Asked about the Wall Street Journal report, which quoted Pakistani government sources saying that, a LeT commander had confessed that all terrorists who attacked Mumbai were Pakistani, Qureshi denied involvement of any Government sources in giving such information to the media.

 

Qureshi's remarks assume significance in the wake of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee saying on Thursday (1^st January) that there was no need for an Extradition Treaty to take action on these matters. Pakistan is yet to demonstrate "tangible" action against the perpetrators though it is obliged to do so under international laws, Mukherjee had said.