NEW DELHI, Dec. 3  -- U. S. intelligence agencies believe former Pakistani Army officers and its intelligence agency helped the Mumbai attackers, a former Pentagon official claims.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that no links had been uncovered between the terrorists and the Pakistani government.

The former official's comments came as U. S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had meetings with Indian leaders in New Delhi and U. S. Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with Pakistani counterparts in Islamabad.

Rice said Pakistan had a "special responsibility" to cooperate with India and help prevent attacks in the future. She also warned India against reacting to the attacks in a way that would yield "unintended consequences," the newspaper reported.

"The response of the Pakistani government should be one of cooperation and of action," she said at a news conference. "Any response needs to be judged by its effectiveness in prevention and also by not creating other unintended consequences or difficulties." (UPI)