MUZAFFARABAD: A leader of several separatist groups in Pakistani Kashmir called the slaughter of civilians in the Indian city of Mumbai 'reprehensible', and denied that any member of his alliance was involved, Reuters reported.

Syed Salahuddin heads the United Jihad Council, an umbrella organisation banding together around a dozen ethnic Kashmiri separatist groups.

Suspicion has fallen on a non-member, Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Though it fights for the Kashmiri cause, L-e-T was founded in the eastern Pakistani province of Punjab and mainly recruited Punjabis to its ranks.

'Let me be very clear once again that the United Jihad Council does not approve of civilian killings and under its code of conduct such an act is reprehensible,' Salahuddin said.

'I can say with utmost certainty that none of Kashmiri jihadi groups has any involvement with the events in Mumbai,' he told Reuters by telephone.

The targeting of Westerners and Jews as well as Indians in the attack supported views that the perpetrators subscribed to a global jihadi agenda, like al Qaeda's, and not just a regional dispute like Kashmir.

Security analyst say L-e-T and Jaish-e-Mohammad, another Punjabi-based militant group fighting for the Kashmiri cause, have links with al Qaeda.

Salahuddin, whose own group is Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, said the attacks in Mumbai were probably carried out by an Indian group in response to the oppression of minorities, including Muslims.

The speaker of the Azad Kashmir parliament, Shah Ghulam Qadir, condemned India for levelling accusations before fully investigating, and said it endangered peace talks begun in 2004.

'Blaming Pakistan even before holding preliminary investigations is condemnable and runs the risk of derailing the peace process,' Qadir said.