US to back India's hunt for Mumbai plotters
Posted: 01 December 2008 0531 hrs

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WASHINGTON: The United States is swinging behind India's efforts to track down those responsible for the deadly attacks in Mumbai, President George W. Bush told Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a telephone call on Sunday.

"President Bush told the prime minister that he has directed the State and Defence departments along with other federal agencies to devote the necessary resources and personnel to this situation," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement.

Five Americans were among the 172 people killed in the attacks which rocked the Indian city for three days.

Bush told Singh "we would all be working together, with the international community, to go after these extremists," Johndroe said.

Bush also told the Indian leader that he believed "out of this tragedy can come an opportunity to hold these extremists accountable and demonstrate the world's shared commitment to combat terrorism."

The Indian government has pointed the finger at "elements in Pakistan," and security sources say they believe most if not all the highly-trained gunmen were Pakistani.

Security officials have said they believed the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba was behind the extremely well-planned assault, which took thousands of Indian commandos, police and soldiers 60 hours to stop.

But Pakistan, a key US ally which has fought two wars with India over Kashmir, moved quickly to deny any links with the attacks. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari urged India not to "over-react." - AFP/de