Pakistan Committed to Confronting Terrorism, Rice Says

04 December 2008

(Officials pledge cooperation against common enemy in Mumbai terror probe)

By David McKeeby
Staff Writer

Washington — South Asia and the international community face a common enemy in terrorism, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said following talks in Pakistan, where officials pledged full cooperation with the probe into the recent attack on India’s financial and entertainment capital, Mumbai.

“Pakistan is going to investigate the circumstances, investigate what may have happened,” Rice told reporters December 4.  “It does not in any way want to be associated with terrorist elements, and is indeed fighting to root them out wherever they find them.” 

President Bush dispatched Rice to the region to offer U.S. support following a series of coordinated attacks November 26–29 that claimed more than 170 lives. Dozens of Indian citizens were killed by the gunmen, along with six Americans and others from Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and the United Kingdom. 

Subsequent Indian allegations that the militants may have been supported by groups operating inside Pakistan threaten to unravel recent progress toward peace between the two nuclear-armed neighbors that have fought three wars since 1947. 

“We talked at some length about the attack on Mumbai and about the importance of Pakistan taking its responsibility to deal with those who may use Pakistani territory, even if they are nonstate actors,” Rice said following a series of meetings with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and their top diplomatic and security advisers. “I have found a Pakistani government that is focused on the threat and that understands its responsibilities to respond to terrorism and extremism wherever it’s found.”

Before arriving in Pakistan, Rice held talks with Indian officials in New Delhi on December 3, while Pakistani leaders met with U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, in a bid to defuse tensions and shift attention toward confronting extremist groups that pose a threat to India, Pakistan and the wider global community. (See “Rice Urges India-Pakistan Cooperation in Mumbai Attack Probe.”)

“The United States is prepared to help in whatever way we can,” Rice said. “There is considerable capacity on the side of India. There’s considerable capacity on the side of Pakistan. It is our intention to augment that in any way that is helpful.”

Pakistan has lost hundreds of security personnel and thousands of citizens in its struggle against extremist militants operating along its border with Afghanistan — and increasingly in Pakistan’s major cities. The December 2007 assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and a massive truck bomb targeting a Marriott Hotel in Islamabad that killed 54 people and injured 250 others, are among dozens of attacks in recent years.

In a move seemingly calculated to add insult to South Asia’s injuries, several militant groups operating in Pakistan now are attempting to take advantage of heightened tensions with India. According to local media reports, extremists are calling for a cease-fire with Pakistani forces and attacks in India in an effort to reverse Islamabad’s gains against terrorism and further destabilize the region.

“Extremists have wreaked havoc in Pakistan. And so the global threat of extremism and terrorism has to be met by all states, taking a very tough and hard line,” Rice said.

A transcript of Rice's remarks is available on America.gov.