Law will take its own course, says Pak PM

Top Lashkar-e-Tayiba members Zakiur Rehman Lakhwi and Zarar Shah, both linked to the Mumbai attacks, have been detained by Pakistani security agencies and the law will take its own course if they are found involved in acts of terror, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Wednesday.

Gilani said he was yet to receive a report on the case of Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Maulana Masood Azhar, who has been put under house arrest in his Bahawalpur home.

Refusing to comment on the involvement of Lakhwi, Azhar and other Pakistani citizens in terrorist acts, Gilani said once Indian intelligence agencies shared findings of their probe into the Mumbai attacks with Pakistan, the country would conduct its own investigation.

"As far as banned organisations are concerned, investigations against them are underway. Till the findings of the investigation come before us, I will not comment on this matter," Gilani told media persons in his hometown of Multan.

Asked if Lakhwi and Zarar Shah, a LeT communications expert, had been arrested, Gilani said they had been 'detained for the purpose of investigation'.

"If anyone is found (involved in the Mumbai attacks), the law will take its own course," he said.

Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar had on Wednesday confirmed that Lakhvi and Azhar had been detained. Mukhtar also said Pakistan could consider allowing the joint interrogation of the two men with India.

Pakistan had on Wednesday ruled out handing over any terror suspects to India, with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi saying that they would be tried under the country's own laws.