Brown seeks British access to banned militant group members

ISLAMABAD, Dec. 14 Kyodo - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Sunday that several serious terror plots investigated by British authorities had links with the al-Qaida network in Pakistan and he asked for access by British police to people arrested by Pakistan for suspected links to the recent attacks on Mumbai.

''I have told President Zardari that three-quarters of the most serious terror
plots investigated by British authorities have links with al-Qaida in
Pakistan,'' he told a joint press conference with Pakistani President Asif
Zardari.
Brown arrived in Islamabad on Sunday after earlier talks with Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi and Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul
on Saturday.
He said he had also asked Singh to allow British police to interview the lone
surviving Mumbai attacker.
British nationals were among the Mumbai dead.
India has blamed the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba of masterminding the Mumbai
attack and Pakistan has arrested up to 20 members of the banned group.
In a related crackdown on Jamat Ud Dawa, a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, the
government has sealed its offices and arrested several hundred of its members
from across Pakistan.
''President (Zardari) has assured me that further action against the suspects
is underway. We will work to ensure that everything is done and shelter is
denied to terrorists in Pakistan '' Brown said.
'' Hopefully, we intend to do more,'' Zardari said when asked what steps were
being taken by Pakistan to stop terrorist training camps on Pakistani
territory.
Brown announced British assistance worth 9 million pounds ($13.4 million) to
procure bomb-scanning technology, help fight extremism and strengthen the cause
of democracy.
Zardari played down reports of violation of Pakistani airspace by Indian
aircraft in the disputed Kashmir and eastern city of Lahore on Saturday.
He called the violations -- which India has said were ''inadvertent'' --
''technical intrusions.''