Pak PM distances himself from police officer’s claim

Pak PM Yousuf Raza Gilani distanced himself from a police officer’s claim that Ind was linked to terrorist attacks on the SL cricket team and a police training centre, saying it would be premature to comment till authorities completed their probe.

Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday distanced himself from a police officer’s claim that India was linked to terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team and a police training centre, saying it would be premature to comment till authorities completed their probe.

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Gilani said his government would comment on the issue only after it received a final report on the probe into the two attacks. He said the police officer’s claim was made on the basis of “preliminary findings”.

It would be “premature” to point fingers at anyone on the basis of a preliminary report. “Wait for the final report,” Gilani told reporters in his hometown of Multan.

Lahore police chief Pervaiz Rathore had on Friday claimed that there is “credible evidence” of Indian involvement in the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in the city on March 3 and a terrorist siege of the police training centre at Manawan on March 30. He also told PTI that both attacks were carried out by “pro-India Afghans”.

Eight police recruits were killed when terrorists stormed the Manawan Police Academy near Lahore. Pakistan Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud claimed responsibility for this attack.