Pak denies report of deadline agreement to act against LeT

Pakistan distances itself from a report that said it had agreed to a 48-hour deadline set by India and the US to act against LeT, saying Islamabad do not have to respond to each and every "provocative comment" in media.

Pakistan on Sunday distanced itself from a report that said it had agreed to a 48-hour deadline set by India and the US to act against LeT, saying Islamabad do not have to respond to each and every "provocative statement or comment" in media.

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"We do not have to respond to each and every provocative statement or comment in the media," Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar told PTI when asked about the report in the Washington Post that Pakistan had agreed to a 48-hour deadline to act against the LeT and to arrest at least three Pakistanis who Indian authorities say are linked to the November 26 attacks.

Babar said the Pakistan government had already made its position very clear in the wake of the attacks in Mumbai by offering to cooperate with India in probing the incident.

President Asif Ali Zardari has offered to assist India in probing the incident and pledged to act against any Pakistani national found to be linked to the attacks.

Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq could not be reached for comments.

The Post quoted an unnamed Pakistani official as saying that India had asked Pakistan to arrest and hand over LeT commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhwi and former Inter-Services Intelligence agency chief Lt Gen (retired) Hamid Gul in connection with the probe into the attacks that killed nearly 200 people.