The Hindu : We will present hard evidence, says Sinha

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 26, 2002

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We will present hard evidence, says Sinha

By Our Diplomatic Correspondent

NEW DELHI Sept. 25. The External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, said here today that the Government would investigate the terrorist attack on the Akshardham temple in Gujarat and present ``hard evidence'' against those behind the heinous crime to the international community.

India had conclusive evidence on the involvement of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Muhammad in the December 13 Parliament attack and the killings of civilians in Jammu and Kashmir. ``Similar tactics'' and ``style of operation'' had been used in the temple incident.

Mr. Sinha, who stopped short of directly blaming Pakistan, told presspersons that the probe into the temple attack was ``still going on'' and the mystery would be unravelled soon.

To a question whether India ``reflexively blamed'' Pakistan for the terrorist attacks on its soil, he said he had carefully chosen his words and denied that there was any ``reflexive'' response. In the earlier terrorist killings too, India had solid proof of the role of the Lashkar and the Jaish.

Asked whether blaming these two organisations was akin to blaming Pakistan, Mr. Sinha said these groups were based in Pakistan, recruited Pakistanis and collected funds there too. ``You can draw your conclusions from that.''

Mr. Sinha said that the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, the British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, and the E.U. High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security, Javier Solana, had telephoned him to condemn the Akshardham killings and convey their sympathies. The international community, he said, understood that India continued to be a victim of terrorism.

Mr. Sinha said he had written a ``personal letter'' to his Portugese counterpart on Monday seeking the immediate deportation of Abu Salem, one of the accused in the Bombay blasts case.

He was yet to receive a response. He had also requested Gen. Powell, Mr. Solana and Mr. Straw to help secure the deportation of Salem, a ``key link in the international terrorist network''.

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