India asks Pakistan to hand over Mumbai suspects

Guwahati: India's prime minister demanded on Saturday that Pakistan hand over suspects in the Mumbai attacks — raising again an issue that has heightened tensions between the longtime rivals.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reiterated that India does not want war with Pakistan "but it must hand over the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks."

Last month, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee asked Islamabad to hand over 40 suspected militants who are free and living in Pakistan.

The list includes some that India believes were involved in the three-day siege that killed 164 people in Mumbai.

It also lists some who have committed "other crimes" against India in the past.

India blames Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, a banned militant outfit, for the November 26 attacks.

Islamabad has so far rejected India's demand and says New Delhi must provide evidence against any suspects who will be tried in Pakistan.

Singh's comments came days after Pakistan arrested at least two men accused by India of planning the attacks and launched a nationwide crackdown on a charity believed to be front group for Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Singh on Saturday visited India's restive northeast region where three bombs exploded on Thursday in Guwahati , the capital of Assam state, killing at least five people and wounding 50.

The attack in Guwahati was the first in India since the November siege in Mumbai.

Authorities suspected the United Liberation Front of Assam— one of the several insurgent groups fighting government forces in the region — was behind the attacks in Guwahati.

The group wants an independent state for the region's ethnic Assamese and is the largest of the northeast's many militant groups.

On Saturday, Singh said the government was willing to talk to the rebel groups provided they lay down their arms.

"We can never compromise with those who believe in the use of guns" to get their demands addressed, he told reporters. "All insurgent groups must recognize that the only course open to them is to lay down arms.... The gun is no solution."