ISLAMABAD, March 4: Pakistan shared with Sri Lanka on Wednesday initial findings of the investigation into the Lahore attack, which suggest foreign involvement in the terror strike that left eight Pakistanis dead and six Sri Lankan players injured.

“I have briefed the Sri Lankan foreign minister on the Lahore incident and shared with him some of our initial reports, …, certain details and some important leads that would eventually unearth the perpetrators of this terrible attack,” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said at a joint news conference with his Sri Lankan counterpart Rohitha Bogollagama.

The Sri Lankan foreign minister was on a brief trip to Pakistan. He also met President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to discuss details of the attack and express solidarity with Pakistan.

Foreign Minister Qureshi said a special probe team had done “some very good work in a short span of time”.

Mr Qureshi did not specify the foreign hand suspected to be involved in the attack. He said the issue “should not be prejudged” and a comprehensive statement in this regard would be issued after the investigators submitted their detailed report.

He said the joint message from Pakistan and Sri Lanka was that the two nations stood shoulder to shoulder to defeat the perpetrators of the strike.

He saw it as a desperate act to put stress on friendly ties between the two countries.

The foreign minister vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice, saying it was the best way to defeat terrorism.

Mr Bogollagama said he was pleased by the information provided by Pakistani authorities.

He said Sri Lanka would await further details to get to the bottom of the design and perpetration.

He said the objective of the masterminds of the attack was to destabilise Pakistan and the region.

He did not rule out the possibility of involvement of the Sri Lankan Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). “That is a matter that we are keenly studying and we would not rule out that.”

He said the LTTE had links and connections with ‘other terrorist groups’.

Expressing confidence in the investigation, he said it was a matter entirely for Pakistani authorities to pursue.

Sri Lanka would, however, like to be privy to the trends emerging in the probe, he said.

During his meeting with Prime Minister Gilani, Foreign Minister Bogollagama said the Sri Lankan government would seek cooperation of friendly countries like Pakistan to ensure that the LTTE did not find sanctuaries abroad.
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