Pakistan on Friday blamed India for “inordinate delay” in extending cooperation in the 2008 Mumbai attack trial, saying it complicated the case of Zaki-ur-Rehman lakhvi and weakened the prosecution, leading to the release of the leT operations commander. “As I had mentioned earlier also, inordinate delay in extending cooperation by India complicated the case and weakened the prosecution.We respect the judicial process and are confident that it would serve the interest of justice,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said.
“The case of Mumbai attack suspects is sub-judice. It would not be proper to cast aspersions on Pakistan’s commitment to countering terrorism at a time when Pakistan has entered a critical stage of defeating the menace of terrorism,” she said when asked about her Indian counterpart’s remarks on the lahore High Court ruling, ordering lakhvi’s release. Fifty five-year-old lakhvi, who guided 10 leT gunmen from a control room in Pakistan during 26/11, walked free on Friday after being under detention for six years, a day after a Pakistani court ordered his release.
India had strongly reacted to the court’s decision, saying it “eroded” the value of assurances repeatedly conveyed to it by Pakistan on cross-border terrorism. Jamaat-ud-Dawa supporters were present outside the prison to receive 55-year-old lakhvi. The court on Thursday suspended the Punjab government’s order to detain lakhvi under a security act and ordered his immediate release. Earlier in the day, lakhvi’s counsel Raja Rizwan Abbasi had told PTI that the government was left with no other ‘legal option’ but to release his client.
“The government is left with no other ‘legal option’ but to release his client after the lHC suspended his detention. Neither the government nor the Adiala Jail authorities can violate the court’s order this time,” he said. lakhvi and six others have been charged with planning and executing the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people and wounded over 300.