The Hindu : Front Page : Islamabad admits Ajmal a Pakistani

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Thursday, Jan 08, 2009
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Islamabad admits Ajmal a Pakistani

Nirupama Subramanian

Acceptance comes after media report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan took a difficult step on Wednesday by formally acknowledging that Mohammad Ajmal Amir, the lone surviving Mumbai attacker, was a Pakistani national.

The acceptance came after a media report that a government investigation had established Ajmal was a Pakistani national.

At first, the Foreign Office spokesman’s response to the report in Dawn News television was that investigations were still in progress and that it was too early to say if Ajmal’s nationality had been established.

But the spokesman was contradicted by Information Minister Sherry Rehman, who confirmed to Associated Press through a text message that Ajmal was indeed a Pakistani. It was late in the evening when the Foreign Office finally confirmed Ajmal’s Pakistani nationality.

“The agencies concerned have informed that Kasab is a Pakistani,” the spokesman told journalists. There was no statement. Quoting sources, Geo television said Ajmal had committed a “heinous crime” and the government had decided it would give him neither legal nor consular access.

Earlier, Dawn News television reported official sources telling it that the government’s “preliminary” investigations had confirmed Ajmal’s Pakistani nationality.

“Alas – it has been established that Kasab is a Pakistani national,” the “high-ranking” official is reported to have told the channel. The report establishing the nationality had been submitted to the Interior Ministry and a copy sent to the Prime Minister, the channel said.

Meanwhile, responding to “reports in the Indian media” about the dossier of information about the Mumbai attacks New Delhi gave to Pakistan earlier this week, the Foreign Ministry said the material was “being seriously examined.”

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