WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday strongly criticized the release by a Pakistani court of the founder of a militant group accused of being behind the attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai last year.
On Tuesday, a Pakistani high court ordered the release of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, founder of the group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which angered India as well as the United States. At least 166 people were killed in the attacks on India's financial hub.
Washington is worried about the stability of nuclear-armed Pakistan, which faces a growing Taliban insurgency, and it wants action against such militants to help defeat al Qaeda and disrupt support for the Taliban in Afghanistan.
"In the aftermath of the November Mumbai attacks we made very clear that there is an international responsibility to cooperate and to bring the perpetrators to justice and that Pakistan has a special responsibility to do so, transparently, fully and urgently," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood.
"Pakistan has said it is committed to fighting terrorism, understood the urgency and had promised strong action against those responsible," he told Reuters.
India has charged 38 people -- most residents of Pakistan -- in connection with the three-day attack, in which police say gunmen landed in Mumbai by boat from Pakistan and then rampaged through several of the city's landmarks including the main train station, two luxury hotels and a Jewish center.
Wood said the United States did not yet know details of the court's decision and was seeking more information.
Saeed was put under house arrest in early December after a U.N. Security Council committee added him and the Islamist charity he heads to a list of people and organizations linked to al Qaeda or the Taliban.
"We continue to impress upon the government of Pakistan the importance of bringing the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice," said Wood.
"We encourage the prosecution of those already in custody and further investigations to develop evidence to prosecute all those responsible for acts of terrorism," Wood added.
'TOUGH LOVE' FOR PAKISTAN
Pakistan expert Bruce Riedel, who oversaw the Obama administration's overhaul of Afghanistan and Pakistan policy earlier this year, said Saeed's release indicated a lack of commitment in fighting extremism by the close U.S. ally.
"There is no question that it (Lashkar-e-Taiba) planned, orchestrated -- down to the minute -- the mayhem and murder that happened in Mumbai," said Riedel, with the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
"Letting this guy go is a signal that the Pakistanis are not serious about the most important terrorist organization in their country," added Riedel, a former CIA analyst.
The Obama administration has said repeatedly Pakistan's government must do more to fight extremism that is spilling over into Afghanistan, linking U.S. assistance to fulfilling that commitment.
Riedel questioned whether the Pakistani military's offensive in the Swat valley against the Taliban was really a "sea change" or just what he described as a half-hearted attempt to stamp out militants.
"It all comes down to the (Pakistani) army and whether they are serious. The evidence there remains very mixed," he said.
Riedel said he expected U.S. special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, would deliver a tough message during his visit this week to Pakistan.
"I think that the U.S.-Pakistan relationship will be one of tough love in which we are constantly pushing them to do more. There is no other alternative."
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