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Pakistan Admits Mumbai Gunman Is Pakistani
January 07, 2009 7:02 AM
By NICK SCHIFRIN, ABC News Digital Reporter, ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
A month after Indian investigators and multiple reporters identified the surviving gunman of the Mumbai attacks as Pakistani, the Pakistan government today finally admitted that fact.
The admission came from both the information ministry and the foreign ministry following weeks of denials by the government. Sources tell ABC News that Mehmud Ali Durrani, advisor to Pakistan's National Security Council has been sacked for giving a statement about Qasab's Pakistani nationality prior to consulting Prime Minister Yusuf Gilani.
Government officials' alternating claims that the gunman wasn't Pakistani -- or that its investigation hadn't concluded whether he was Pakistani -- had incensed Indian and some American officials.
Even though on Dec. 11 Pakistan's interior chief admitted to ABC News that Pakistani soil had been used as a launching ground for the attacks, a Pakistani official blames the long delay on confirming Ajmal Qasab's identity on the fact that he never received a national identity card. Every male Pakistani over the age of 18 is supposed to obtain one, but the system wasn't computerized until Gen. Pervez Musharraf took power in 1999.
On Dec. 22, Ajmal Qasab wrote to the Pakistani high commission in New Delhi saying he was Pakistani and needed legal help. But many government officials here dismissed that news, going so far as to complain the letter was a copy, not an original, and therefore couldn't be trusted.
The admission comes on a day when the government here has sounded relatively sanguine, saying in a statement that "material received from India is being seriously examined" and that "Pakistan remains fully determined in its investigations to uncover full facts pertaining to the Mumbai incident."
That's a long way from 12 paragraphs of vitriol the foreign ministry released Tuesday following Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's accusation that "some official agencies in Pakistan" were behind the attacks.
What a difference a day makes.
"Pakistan is conducting its own investigation and will proceed on the basis of our own investigation," the government official writes in an e-mail. "We will not act under pressure. We recognize global threat of terrorism and will fight it in Pakistan's interest. We will gradually share results of our investigation in accordance with our law and due process."
Read more blogs by Nick Schifrin
Read more blogs by ABC News staff
January 7, 2009 in World View | Permalink | Share | User Comments (17)
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Shame ABCNEWS blog, ABC News. When and where did the Pakistan Govt say that Ajmal Qasab was a Pakistani, except for the slip of Mr. Durrani under psychological duress from the western media - when giving the interview. Thereafter the Pakistan Govt has actually emphatically denied and discredit all such reports linking Ajmal Qasab to Pakistan. This is pure propaganda from ABC and Western (biased) media to discredit Pakistan.
Mumbai was an inside job, a false flag black operation conducted by Mossad - make a note.
Posted by: Qasim Mianjan | Jan 7, 2009 11:07:03 AM
Since,when Pak became so organized nation,Qasim,please stop posting your comments here,people really don't care about pak a terrorist nation.
Posted by: raj | Jan 7, 2009 12:30:04 PM
Only one solution to this problem. NUKE PAKISTAN! And Qasim - maybe Pakistani people are stupid but the rest of the world isn't. Black flag operation - hahahah! What the hell does that mean anyways?
Posted by: Chandu | Jan 7, 2009 12:38:07 PM
Yeah to that.Shut it Qasim.Nuke the ragheads along with this holyjihadmybackside-morelikeholycowcrap Qasim guy and restore some sanity.Go military India.Bloody Pakis
Posted by: Reddy | Jan 7, 2009 1:03:18 PM
Look what it took to get Pakistan to admit it. This is important because there are almost certainly other attacks planned by groups in Pakistan. Without Pakistan's cooperation, India will have to defend itself from Pakistani terror groups the same way that Israel is finally defending itself against Hamas.
Posted by: Dugese | Jan 7, 2009 8:16:52 PM
OK he is Pakistani. This still doesn't prove that Pakistan was behind the attacks.
Posted by: Yasir | Jan 7, 2009 9:17:43 PM
I want whatever Qasim is smoking !! LOL
Posted by: jon wyatt | Jan 8, 2009 2:28:56 AM
Wait... is Qasim serious?! The Mumbai terror attacks were an inside job conducted by the Mossad?! Wow.. this is exactly why you shouldn't ever trust Arabs when they try to report on "factual" information
Posted by: Eric | Jan 8, 2009 6:47:47 AM
Everyone knows Pakistan was behind this attack. The only people in denial were the members of the Pakistani government.
Posted by: Gerald | Jan 8, 2009 6:57:27 AM
I think we should carpet bomb the Paki-Indian border with pork ribs. This should create a no-go zone that will offend both the Moslems and vegetarian Indians. Of course, the beef eating Hindus will kick some ass, but you can't have everything...
Posted by: MyShatteredAss | Jan 8, 2009 7:05:08 PM
This Qasim Mianjan is an idiot, When will they ever evolve and become part of the real world?
Posted by: Bryan Batez | Jan 9, 2009 9:52:42 AM
Pakistan had nothing to do with the attacks! They were the work of terrorists who should be caught and persecuted in Pakistan.
India should stop pointing the finger at Pakistan and instead should realize that Pakistan is NOT the culprit. They should instead support Pakistan on its war on terrorism.
Did you all forget that Pakistan is in a much harsher situation. Pakistan is fighting a war against the Taliban and innocent Pakistanis are being killed in a weekly occurance?
Posted by: Yasir | Jan 9, 2009 5:52:55 PM
If it takes a terrorist attack for Indians to nuke a country, then you have made the work easy for the terrorist. I am so glad the bozos writing these blogs are not running the country.
Wake up and smell your sabji, Indian gov has the worst human right abuse record, with massacres in Gujrat, Punjab and Kashmir in the recent past.
Pakistan's new govt, with problems on Afghanistan border, US drones, Judges issues... does not need a new front with India.
But if you war mongering idiots insist on a war, your will get _ss whopping of your life. And you can count on that.
Posted by: headlocked | Jan 10, 2009 4:21:29 PM
Give PEACE a chance!
- in the words of Comrade Lennon
Posted by: Joseph | Jan 11, 2009 7:05:14 AM
US needs to nuke pakistan, it is state which sponsor terrorism, kill them, destroy them and send them to stone-age, Here are thinks we need to nuke pakistan and all the mosques in there, and we need to nuke the saudi kingdom alongwith Kabba and madina. We need make Islam a non-existent entity.
Nice clean up by Israel in gaza, hats off to that smart nation, they did the right thing. Now they need to screw lebanon too, after hamas is death an burried in the coffin.
Posted by: James | Jan 14, 2009 1:36:13 PM
LOL.....LOL... don,t you know your mind and soul controlled from Indian ideology.
This is the RAW deals face it. I wonder only Hindu Gandhi use Jesus teaching to beat the very own Anglo s. Short memory.
Posted by: joseph | Jan 14, 2009 1:41:46 PM
James is an Idiot!
Posted by: Jonas | Jan 16, 2009 3:14:19 PM
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