London: British authorities are trying to find out if any Britons of Pakistani origin were involved in the attacks in Mumbai, the interior minister said on Friday.
London's Evening Standard newspaper, quoting Indian government sources, reported that some of the gunmen were British.
A European parliamentarian also said she had heard that British Pakistanis were involved. "I think it's important that we make judgments on this on the basis of actually the fullest possible knowledge and intelligence, and that's obviously what we are working on at the moment," Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told reporters.
She said Britain was prepared to offer Indian authorities all possible support, including forensic and intelligence experts, as it investigates the attacks, in which around 140 people have been killed and hundreds more wounded.
A British security source told Reuters it was too early to say whether reports that British nationals had taken part in the attacks were accurate.
"Some of this may be speculation, but there may be elements of truth," the source said. "The UK authorities are looking closely at any UK link that may be coming out of this. We're working with our international partners ... We are getting regular readouts of what is going on," the source added.
Erika Mann, a German member of the European Parliament who was on a trade mission in Mumbai, said she had heard reports British Pakistanis took part in the attacks and were killed but she did not say where she had heard this. "This information has not been confirmed yet," she said in a statement put out by the socialist group in the parliament.
The Evening Standard ran a banner headline in its Friday edition saying "Mumbai Gunmen 'were British'".
It said two British-born Pakistanis were captured along with eight others after Indian commando units stormed two hotels and a Jewish centre in central Mumbai to free hostages.
London police said they had no information, referring calls to the Indian authorities. About 750,000 people of Pakistani origin live in Britain, making it the second-largest ethnic minority after the Indian community.
Three of four suicide bombers who blew themselves up on London's public transport system in July 2005, killing more than 50 people, were Britons of Pakistani origin.
Britain's security services estimate that hundreds of young British-born Pakistanis have travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the past decade to attend militant training camps.
Asked about the possibility of any British Muslim link to the Mumbai attacks, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said it was "too early" to reach any conclusions.
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