May 11, 2008	Sunday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 5, 1429

NEW DELHI, May 10: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said he would not hold talks with any militant group unless they first gave up arms, the Press Trust of India reported on Saturday, quoting an interview he gave to an Indian TV channel.

On a perception in India that Pakistan might divert pressure from its unpopular military action against the Taliban in areas bordering

Afghanistan by easing up on armed militants allegedly operating in Indian occupied Kashmir, Mr Gilani said: “Actually, we are very clear. We are fighting the war on terrorism not for America...That is, we are fighting the war for our own country because as I have mentioned, we lost our own leader because of terrorism. And I am very firm on terrorism and we will not negotiate with militants unless they give up arms.”

The PTI quoted from an interview Mr Gilani gave to CNN-IBN and said he could consider extraditing Mumbai don Dawood Ibrahim to India if Delhi could authentic proof that he was in Pakistan.

According to PTI, Mr Gilani said his government could also consider

India’s request for access to terrorist leaders like Masood Azhar, who was released from an Indian prison in a bargain for the safety of passengers of an Indian Airlines plane hijacked to Kandahar in 1999. But India’s demand should be backed by evidence.