Islamabad, Jan 08: Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday night sacked National Security Adviser Mahmud Ali Durani for saying that Kasab is a Pakistani national.
Talking to Geo news channel, Pakistan`s National Security Adviser Mahmud Ali Durrani confirmed, unofficially, that Kasab hails from Pakistan and an official statement in this regard is expected from the Interior Ministry later in the day. He also conveyed the same to an Indian channel, adding that a report to the same effect was being submitted to Pakistan PM Yousaf Raza Gilani.
Sherry Rehman, the Information anf Broadcasting Minister of Pakistan, told a news agency in an SMS that Kasab is a Pakistani. Rehman also said Pakistan`s investigation into the Mumbai attacks was continuing.
Durrani was, later in the evening, sacked for making the `revelation`, Pakistan media said. Ordering his removal, Pakistan PM said that Durrani was sacked "for his irresponsible behaviour (of) not taking Prime Minister and other stakeholders into confidence and lack of coordination on matters of national security".
Replying to the channel`s claim that Pakistan National Security Adviser Mahmud Ali Durani had conveyed to it that Kasab is a Pakistan and that he would be giving a report to the Prime Minister`s Office in this regard, Bashir had said he had just spoken to Durani, who told him that he had also heard some media report.
Reports have suggested that Pakistan has virtually denied any legal aid to Ajmal Kasab, a resident of Faridkot.
It has been confirmed that Ajmal Kasab is a Pakistani national following preliminary investigations by national security agencies, said Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq.
He was replying to questions by reporters who asked for confirmation of the report shortly after television channels broadcast the news that investigations have revealed that Kasab is a Pakistani.
Pakistani sources, however, sought to suggest that Kasab had no links to official agencies.
The significant admission which could reveal further Pakistani connections to the Mumbai terror attacks came a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that some official agencies of Pakistan were involved in the strikes and two days after India gave evidence to Islamabad seeking handing over of the masterminds.
This is clear shift in stance from Pakistan as earlier on Monday it bristled at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh`s charge that its official agencies were involved in the Mumbai terror attack saying that such an approach was "fraught with grave risks" even as it dismissed some details of the evidence provided by India as "not credible".
Islamabad had taken just about 24 hours to rubbish the Indian evidence which included the confessional statement of Ajmal Kasab, satellite excerpts of the conversations between the terrorists in Mumbai and their handlers in Pakistan and other material handed over to it yesterday in both Islamabad and New Delhi. Simultaneously, it upped the war rhetoric by accusing India of pushing the region towards war.
Pak says `seriously examining` Indian `info`
Pakistan today said the "information" provided by India on the Mumbai attacks is being "seriously examined" to uncover full facts behind the terror strikes and establish evidence that will stand up to legal scrutiny.
Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said the "information material received from India is being seriously examined".
Pakistan is "fully determined in its investigations to uncover full facts pertaining to the Mumbai incident and is cognizant of the need for establishing legally tenable evidence," Sadiq said in a statement.
Kasab, 22-year-old son of a butcher and a school dropout who was arrested on the night of November 26, had in his confession statement told investigators that he was part of a 10-member Pakistani squad detailed to carry out the attack.
He had said he was trained by the Lashkar-e-Toiba under the guidance of its commander Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks. The 10-member squad had split into five teams of two members each.
Kasab and another terrorist had carried out attacks in the CST terminus in Mumbai soon after they landed in an inflatable dingy on the shores of the metropolis.
When challenged by police, he and his accomplice had gunned down Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare, a top city police official Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar along with three other constables opposite Cama Hospital.
Kasab was caught at Girgaum-Chowpatty crossing when police blocked their way but not before some policemen were killed. The terror accomplice was also shot dead.
Kasab news-Pak govt admits Kasab is Pakistani: Report
denial in Pakistan is at the highest degree,I don't blame this fool..in the meantime in pakistan...
'Triumphant' Pakistanis highlight conspiracy theory: Ajmal Kasab died of dengue, link to Osama - Indian Express
