Pakistan cracks down on Lashkar, charity; scores held

By Abu Arqam Naqash

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan shut offices and arrested scores of activists of an Islamic charity, officials said on Friday, as international pressure mounted for firm action against militants blamed for the Mumbai attacks.

The overnight raids came after Pakistan said it would abide by a U.N. decision placing Hafiz Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, on its terrorism sanctions list of people and organisations linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban.

India and the United States have been urging Pakistani action after the Mumbai attack by gunmen that killed 179 people last month.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte met with Pakistani political leaders and the army chief before going to New Delhi on Friday.

There, he met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and National Security Adviser M. K. Narayanan and urged more international cooperation into the investigation.

"We're cooperating in this effort, obviously the government of India is in the lead, but all of our diplomatic partners have a responsibility to contribute to this effort," Negroponte said in a statement in New Delhi.

Pakistan said it was investigating links with the Mumbai attack, but that India has not provided any evidence.

"Our own investigations cannot proceed beyond a certain point without provision of credible information and evidence pertaining to the Mumbai attacks," Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said in a televised statement early on Friday.