Pakistan parties unite on Mumbai

By Charles Haviland
BBC News, Islamabad

Relations have been strained following the attacks

Political leaders in Pakistan have joined forces to condemn the attacks in Mumbai but rejected "hasty allegations" made against their country.

The resolution concluded a meeting of the leaders of nearly all Pakistan's parties and was a rare example of unity among fractious politicians.

The resolution said they shared India's grief after the Mumbai attacks.

India has said that Pakistani elements carried out the attacks in Mumbai that left almost 200 people dead.

'Unsubstantiated allegations'

The resolution said that Pakistan abhorred violence against innocent people.

But the parties also said they took strong exception to what they called "unsubstantiated allegations made in haste against Pakistan".

The parties, several dozen in number, said they all firmly supported the government and the armed forces in defending Pakistan's security interests.

India has not made direct accusations against the Islamabad government but has asked Pakistan to hand over 20 men whom it has linked to militant attacks in India over some years.

Pakistani officials say the list is old and that some of those mentioned on it are not even in Pakistan.

The prime minister says that even those who are in the country cannot be extradited without concrete evidence linking them to the Mumbai incident.

As tensions rise between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, Pakistan has tried to extend various olive branches, and on Tuesday offered to take part in a joint bilateral commission to investigate what happened in Mumbai.