WASHINGTON, Jan 1: The US administration is now urging Pakistan to ensure that those responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks are punished inside the country instead of being extradited to India, US sources told Dawn.

According to the sources, the Bush administration has informed the government of Pakistan that it would like it to initiate “prosecution with sufficient efforts to ensure conviction”.

This indicates a clear change in the US attitude which previously backed the Indian demand that some of the suspects be extradited to India. The change apparently has also been noticed in New Delhi where External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters on Thursday that the US pressure on Pakistan to act against the Mumbai perpetrators had “not produced tangible returns”.

Mr Mukherjee claimed that an FBI team currently in Pakistan had shared with Pakistani authorities “strong evidence” of Lashkar-e-Taiba’s involvement in the Mumbai attacks that left more than 170 dead and many more injured.

Mr Mukherjee insisted that an extradition treaty was not needed for handing over three suspects — Dawood Ibrahim, Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar and Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi of the Lashkar-e-Taiba that India says staged the Nov 26-29 attacks.

US officials had earlier supported the Indian demand but the change in their attitude followed a realisation in Washington that it would not be easy for the Pakistani government to extradite key Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders to India, sources said.

In their negotiations with US officials on this issue, the Pakistanis insisted that the extradition of Pakistani citizens to India — particularly when the two countries did not have an extradition treaty — would have unpredictable consequences for the government.

The Pakistanis argued that the resulting political instability would not only weaken the government but could also harm the war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda militants in Afghanistan as Pakistan played a key supporting role in this war.

The softening in US attitude is also linked to a crackdown in Pakistan on LeT and other militant groups. The move appears to have convinced Washington that Pakistan is serious about uprooting militant groups that use its territory for conducting attacks inside India and Afghanistan.

The Americans, who have stayed involved with the investigation, also noted with satisfaction that Pakistani authorities were seriously interrogating the suspects involved in the Mumbai attacks and looked determined to find out those responsible.

The New York Times, meanwhile, reported on Thursday that Pakistani authorities had obtained confessions from LeT members that they were involved in the Mumbai carnage.

The NYT quoted a Pakistani official as saying that the “most talkative” of the Lashkar leaders being interrogated is Zarar Shah, the group’s communications chief.

The Wall Street Journal had on Wednesday reported the news of Shah’s confession. NYT said Lakhvi is also said to be cooperating with investigators.