New Delhi  - Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday denied making a telephone call to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari in the immediate aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

According Pakistan's The Dawn newspaper, the "hoax" call convinced many in Zardari's office that the "Indians had started beating the war drums."

Mukherjee, in his first comments on the matter, said, "It is, however, worrying that a neighbouring state might even consider acting on the basis of such a hoax call, try to give it credibility with other states, and confuse the public by releasing the story in part."

London, Dec. 7 : Britain is likely to spend nearly 500 million pounds on schools and hospitals in Pakistan to neutralize extremist forces blamed for the attacks in Mumbai last month.

According to The Scotsman, ministers will outline their plans in Glasgow this week to double the aid already given to Pakistan.

Much of the cash will be spent on improving education in the border areas of the country to tackle the near non-existent levels of schooling.

In total, the UK will spend 480 million pounds over the next three years in Pakistan, making it the second-biggest recipient of British aid after India.

London/Mumbai, Dec. 7 : Sources close to Indian intelligence have claimed that another terror attack before the 2009 general election would almost certainly make war between India and Pakistan inevitable.

America and Britain are keen that the present friction between Islamabad and New Delhi does not distract Pakistan, and make it take a decision to end their offensive against Al-Qaeda and Taliban "safe havens" in tribal areas close to the Afghan border.

According to The Sunday Times, an Indian intelligence report claims the Mumbai gunmen were among a large group of volunteer "fedayeen" trained in commando tactics by Pakistan army and navy instructors over 18 months from December 2006.

Faridkot (Pakistan''s Punjab province), Dec. 7 : Residents of a village in Pakistan Punjab''s Okara District have reportedly told a British daily that Ajmal Amir Kasab, the surviving gunman involved in last week''s terrorist attacks on Mumbai, hails from there.

According to a report in The Observer, electoral lists for Faridkot show 478 registered voters, including the name of Kasab''s father Mohammed Amir.

The paper further goes on to say that a villager, who cannot be named for his own protection, said the village was an active recruiting ground for the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Washington, Dec. 7: The Bush administration is preparing to present President-elect Barack Obama with a lengthy, classified strategy review aimed at reversing the gains that militants have made in destabilizing Afghanistan and Pakistan.

To be presented to Obama''s top national security advisers in the next week or two, the review is expected to contain several options, including telling Pakistan''s military that if it wants billions of dollars in American aid will depend on the military''s being reconfigured to effectively fight militants.

London, Dec. 7 : Pakistan''s High Commissioner in Britain Wajid Shamsul Hassan has claimed that Britain and the United States had to intervene to prevent India from attacking Pakistan following the Mumbai terror attacks.

Hassan made his claim in an interview with the BBC, and said that he had alerted Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to the threat.

Zardari in turn urgently contacted senior British and American officials who intervened to calm the situation.

There was no response to the claims from the British Foreign Office.

The Sun quoted a spokeswoman as saying: "We do not comment on security issues".