Breaking its silence for the first time the U.S. State Department on Wednesday hit out publicly at a Pakistani court’s decision to grant bail to Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the Lashkar-e-Taiba commander who was the operational mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
In a daily press briefing, State Department Spokesperson Marie Harf said in response to a question referencing Lakhvi: “We’re concerned by the reports that this individual terrorist got bail,” adding that Washington urged the Government of Pakistan to uphold its promise to cooperate in bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice.
While the spokesperson did not appear to be certain that the matter had been raised directly with the Pakistani government through private channels as well, she said, “When we have concerns like this we’ll raise them.”
Although Lakhvi was granted bail last week by Islamabad Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi citing an apparent lack of evidence against him, the Pakistan government extended his detention for a further three months under a Public Maintenance Order.
The decision to grant Lakhvi bail elicited sharp criticism in India and also raised eyebrows for its timing, as it came scarcely days after Taliban militants killed 148 people in Peshawar, among them 133 school children.
At the briefing Ms. Harf also declined to comment on Islamabad’s decision to end its moratorium on executions and put to death 500 militants, another move that followed in the wake of the Peshawar massacre.
“Clearly this is… a decision for Pakistan. It’s not really ours to weigh in on. We have been in close contact with all levels of the Pakistani Government,” she said.