Rehman Malik, adviser on the interior, meets Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) chief Robert Mueller at the Interior Ministry in Islamabad. -Reuters

ISLAMABAD Pakistan on Wednesday declined an offer of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate the gory attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore that claimed the lives of at least seven people, including six policemen, a well-placed source told Dawn.

Meanwhile, the security agencies have made the headway and got some important leads in investigating the case that confirmed what Pakistan has already said `the involvement of external hand` in the attack, the source said.

The FBI forwarded the offer to Pakistan when its visiting Director Robert Mueller called on President Asif Ali Zardari in a luncheon meeting. The FBI chief also met Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik and Pakistan`s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Tariq Khosa.

The FBI team wanted to visit the site of the attack on Sri Lankans and offer its assistance to join local investigators in the probe, a senior security official told Dawn on condition of anonymity.

The official said the Pakistan side asked FBI team that its assistance was not required as the local investigators were capable to unearth the perpetrators and take them to task.

The source said some of the terrorists who attacked the Sri Lankan team had been arrested and more arrests were also being made on their information.

Interior adviser Rehman Malik, while meeting with the FBI chief, reiterated his stance that the involvement of `external` hand cannot be ruled out in Lahore attack.

The government believed that the Indian intelligence agency was involved in the attack but it (the government) was intentionally keeping mum and avoid accusing India directly unless solid evidences about Indians` involvement were collected by investigators.

Pakistani side also shared the investigation so far conducted in connection with  Mumbai attacks with the FBI delegation and demanded further cooperation from India so that the terrorist network could be destroyed.        

The issued of Swat peace deal, that has strongly been opposed by the west, also came under discussion  and the government assured that the deal would not facilitate the militants but restore peace in settled areas of the country.

Earlier, President Zardari claimed that perpetrators of heinous terrorist assaults on Sri Lankan Cricket team would be unearthed and dealt with an iron hand.

He also underlined the need that both the brotherly countries of Pakistan and Sri Lanka to jointly devise a mechanism for promotion of peace, development and progress of the region.

No local militant organisation has so far taken responsibility of the deadly attack. Security authorities believe that those involved in the attack were not local terrorists but it might be country with the help of some local groups.

The way the terrorists conducted the attack was not the style of local terrorists because they usually do not expose themselves by coming out for shooting and bombing because they have enough number of suicide bombers to hit their targets, the security official said.        

Meanwhile, President Zardari in his meeting with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohita Bogollagama, suggested that the two countries hold a workshop to learn from each other`s experiences in fighting terrorism with a view of devising a mechanism for enhancing cooperation between them for fighting militancy.

The attack, he said, had once again underlined the fact that terrorism was not confined to any country and was a global problem which needed cooperative international efforts to root it out.
The progress has been made in the investigation and the perpetrators will be exposed and brought to justice, the president said.