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FBI team visited Faridkot?

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani media have reported that a team of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation visited Faridkot in Pakistan’s Punjab province but could find no evidence that the surviving gunman in the Mumbai attacks came from there. The News said Rehman Malik, who heads the Interior Ministry, however, denied the report.

U.S. embassy spokesman Lou Fintor told The Hindu that he had “no information” about the visit of an FBI team to Faridkot or even to Pakistan.

Geo television channel said the five-member team, led by its South Asia director William Robert, visited the village late on Wednesday to find out if Ajmal Amir, the gunman who was captured in Mumbai, hailed from there but found no evidence. Dawn newspaper reported that the team which visited Faridkot was the same that interrogated Ajmal in Mumbai.

The Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, said it was conducting its “own internal investigations to ascertain whether Ajmal is from Pakistan.”

In response to questions from journalists if Pakistan would seek access to Ajmal, Foreign Office spokesman Mohammed Sadiq said in a written reply that the government would “deal with this issue after our investigations are complete.”

Asked if the U.S. and Britain showed any evidence to Pakistan relating to the Mumbai attacks, the spokesman did not give a direct answer but said “concrete information or evidence” was awaited, and that the Indian government had said it was still investigating the incident.

In response to another question about India’s demand that Pakistan dismantle its terror infrastructure, Mr. Sadiq said there was no “terror infrastructure” in the country, and that as a responsible state, it was taking all steps to counter terrorism.

“India and other countries of the region need to follow a cooperative, and not accusatory, approach to jointly deal with this menace,” he said, reiterating the offer of a joint investigation into the Mumbai incidents.

PTI reports:

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told NDTV that the U.S. had provided proof to Pakistan of the involvement of the Lashkar-e-Taiba in the attacks and that it should now hand over the culprits. “We have been told that there is some strong evidence available with the FBI and they have shared it with Pakistan. We expect that Pakistan will act on it.”

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