Pakistan to contest law suit filed against ISI

Two lawsuits were filed against the ISI in a federal court in Brooklyn by relatives of the 2008 Mumbai attack victims.

ISLAMABAD:

The Government of Pakistan has taken a decision to contest the suit filed against the ISI, its present and past Directors General.

According to a Foreign Office spokesman, The Government of Pakistan and the Pakistan Embassy in Washington shall defend the legal suit on behalf of ISI and its Directors General.

Prime Minister Syed Yusaf Raza Gilani had earlier stated in the National Assembly that “We do not believe the ISI, as an agency of the Government of Pakistan, or its present and former officials could be subjected to civil litigation in the courts of the United States and we intend to take appropriate steps to obtain dismissal of this action.”

Two lawsuits were filed last month against the ISI in a federal court in Brooklyn by relatives of the 2008 Mumbai attack victims.

"Defendant ISI provided critical planning, material support, control and coordination of the attacks" by a roving band of gunmen, who attacked a Jewish community centre, a popular restaurant and tourist hotels in Mumbai, allege the lawsuits.

The lawsuits repeat the long-standing allegations that the ISI "has long nurtured and used international terrorist groups", including LeT. Pakistan last year charged seven suspects, including alleged mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, in connection with the attacks. The government has acknowledged that the attacks were at least partly planned on its soil.

But the prosecution has stalled with Pakistani officials demanding Kasab be allowed to testify, which New Delhi has refused. Pakistan also wants to send a fact-finding commission to India to gather more evidence.

No need for Indian judicial commission

Pakistan has said that there is no need for India to send a judicial commission for questioning the Mumbai Attacks accused on its soil. This was stated by the Foreign Office Spokesperson Abdul Basit, during his weekly media briefing.

Basit said that Pakistan is fully committed to bringing the Mumbai culprits to justice. He noted that India refrains from talking on the Kashmir and Siachin disputes by using the Mumbai Attacks to halt negotiations.