Headlines
America greatly concerned over Lakhvi's release: US official Biswal
New Delhi, April 29
The US was "greatly
concerned" over the release of Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman
Lakhvi and supports India's effort to bring the Mumbai attackers to
justice, top US official Nisha Biswal said on Wednesday.
The US
assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs said
here on Wednesday that the US had been hoping to avoid the situation of
Lakhvi being released from jail and had "impressed" this concern on
Pakistani officials.
"The need for those responsible for those
responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks to be brought to justice, that
is a goal we share with India," she said at the University of Chicago
Center here.
She said US Secretary of State John Kerry had called
up Islamabad and said that "efforts be made to re-arrest Lakhvi and to
ensure that he does not roam free".
"We continue to support
India's effort to bring the Mumbai attackers to justice, and to seek
justice for those who died in the attacks, which included American
citizens as well," Biswal said.
"We continue to impress upon all
our friends across the region that there is no such thing as good
terrorist and bad terrorist, and there is only terrorists, and support
for terrorists of any kind is not acceptable," she said.
She also
said that while Pakistan has redoubled its efforts to deal with the
issue of terrorism following the Peshawar attack on a school, the US
does not consider the progress satisfactory.
"Do we think that
the progress is satisfactory? Of course not, we want to see more and we
want to see it across the board," she said.
"Terrorism wherever
it takes place, is not acceptable. So we will continue to press on that
and to find ways to work together to address the concerns where we can
to bring pressure to bear where we must," she added.
She said it would be a shared endeavour not just between US and India, but between the US and Pakistan too.
Lakhvi
was released from the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi earlier this month,
after Lahore high court suspended his detention and ordered his
immediate release.