world's terrorism factory--pakistan

New Delhi, Oct 28 (IANS) The US Wednesday hailed the arrest of two men, including an American, by the FBI in connection with a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) plot to launch terror attacks in India and stressed the commitment of the two countries to bring terrorists to justice.

'We congratulate our law enforcement agencies on this important breakthrough in the fight against terrorism that challenges both the United States and India,' US Ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer said here.

'Radical extremists plotting attacks are a common threat demanding a shared solution, close cooperation, and bold resolve,' he said.

Alluding to enhanced cooperation between the two countries in combating terrorism, the US envoy said: 'We salute the strong and ongoing efforts between our two governments and the peoples of our nations in this global fight.'

'Together, our great democracies stand committed to bringing terrorists to justice and will press forward aggressively until this goal is accomplished,' he stressed.

The US investigating agencies have been cooperating with their Indian counterparts in bringing to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai carnage in which Pakistani nationals were suspected to be involved.

The envoy was referring to a plot by Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba to use a US national to carry out a major terrorist attack in India.

David Coleman Headley, a 49-year-old US national, was one of two suspects arrested earlier this month by FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport before he boarded a flight to Philadelphia.

He was allegedly planning to travel to Pakistan from Philadelphia to meet Pakistani terrorists, including the fugitive Ilyas Kashmiri with an intention to target India. Kashmiri is the operational chief of HuJi, a Pakistani-based terrorist organisation with links to al-Qaeda, in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

Headley, along with his partner, a Pakistani-Canadian named Tahawwur Hussain Rana, was also hatching a plan to attack the Danish newspaper that published cartoons of Prophet Mohammed in 2005.

Indo Asian News Service