India says Pakistan must return fugitives

NEW DELHI, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- India's foreign minister Tuesday demanded Pakistan hand over fugitives, some of whom are suspected of being behind last week's attacks in Mumbai.

As relations between the two countries have worsened following last week 's three-day attacks in India's financial capital, the Indian government summoned the Pakistani ambassador to the foreign ministry to hand over its protest note.

Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the country is awaiting Pakistan's response to the note containing the demand for the fugitives, the Press Trust of India reported.

The BBC quoted other Indian media reports as saying the list of fugitives, who India says have found shelter in Pakistan, includes Dawood Ibrahim, a notorious Mumbai underworld don blamed for masterminding the deadly 1993 blasts in the city, and Maulana Masood Azhar, a Pakistani Muslim cleric freed from an Indian jail to be traded for passengers on a hijacked plane in 1999.

Mukherjee had said earlier "some elements" based in Pakistan are suspected to be behind the Mumbai attacks.

Separately, India's new Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said the government will respond with "determination and resolve" to the threats against India, the report said.