Mumbai attack: Rice asks Pak to act urgently, else US will act

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has told Pakistan that there is "irrefutable evidence" of involvement of elements in this country in the Mumbai terror attacks and it had no option but to act urgently "otherwise, the US will act."

Rice, who travelled to Islamabad after a visit to India earlier this week, "pushed" the Pakistani leaders to move against the perpetrators of the terror strikes.

The clear message was conveyed by her to Pakistan's top leadership during her brief stopover in Islamabad on Thursday, diplomatic sources said.

Rice said that there was "irrefutable evidence" of the involvement of Pakistani elements in the Mumbai attacks, the sources said.

In India, Rice was shown the extensive evidence gathered by investigators to prove the linkages between the Mumbai attackers and Pakistan-based elements, especially the banned Lashker-e-Toiba terror group, they said.

The sources said Rice, during her interactions with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, made it clear that Pakistan needs to act effectively to bring the perpetrators to justice. She warned that the "US will act if Pakistan did not".

Rice also told Pakistan that it "needs to act urgently and effectively to avert a strong international response". She said that Pakistan's response needs to be "effective and focused" and that India was thinking on "similar lines", the Dawn newspaper said.