'Pakistan in no way responsible' for Mumbai attacks: Zardari

Asif Ali Zardari denied his nation was involved in last week's deadly attacks on Mumbai, India, and told on Tuesday he's seen no evidence that a suspect in custody is a Pakistani national as Indian officials claim. "I think these are stateless actors who have been operating all throughout the region," Zardari said on CNN's "Larry King Live" in an interview set to air Tuesday night. "The gunmen plus the planners, whoever they are, stateless actors who have been holding hostage the whole world." Zardari confirmed he is willing to have Pakistani security officials participate with India in a joint investigation. "The state of Pakistan is in no way responsible," Zardari told King. "... Even the White House and the American CIA have said that today. The state of Pakistan is, of course, not involved. We're part of the victims, Larry. I'm a victim. The state of Pakistan is a victim. We are the victims of this war, and I am sorry for the Indians, and I feel sorry for them." Asked about the suspect in custody, Zardari said: "We have not been given any tangible proof to say that he is definitely a Pakistani. I very much doubt it, Larry, that he is a Pakistani." He said Pakistan is looking into the allegation, but added, "Like I said, these are stateless individuals. ... We've had incidents the past two days in Karachi where we've lost more than 40 to 45 people, hundreds injured. These are stateless actors who are moving throughout this region." "I am definitely going to look into all the possibility of any proof that is given to us," Zardari said. "At the moment, these are just names of individuals. No proof, no investigation, nothing has been brought forward." If proof of the individuals' involvement is provided, he said, "We would try them in our courts, we would try them in our land, and we would sentence them." Indian authorities said the suspect in custody was trained by Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.
Zardari said that Lashkar-e-Tayyiba is a "banned organization" in Pakistan and around the world. "If indeed they are involved, we would not know," he said. "Again, they are people who operate outside the system. They operate like -- al Qaeda, for instance, is not state-oriented. They operate something on that mechanism, and ... I've already offered India full cooperation on this incident, and we intend to do that." "I'm firmly committed to fighting terrorism per se," he said. "That's why we are fighting them every day, Larry." Asked about the possibility of Indian military strikes against terrorist camps in Pakistan, Zardari said: "I would not agree with that because this is a time to come together and do a joint investigation and look at the problem in the larger context. We have a larger threat on our hands ... it's a threat throughout the region. So that would be counterproductive."Pakistan and India, both nuclear powers, have a tense relationship and have fought three wars since the subcontinent was divided in 1947. On whether the Mumbai attacks could trigger a fourth war, Zardari said: "Larry, democracies don't go to war. All those wars you're talking about did not take place in any democracy. They all happened in the times of dictators. ..."The whole nation of Pakistan is united to ... becoming friends with India," he said.