London, Dec. 3: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has told a leading British daily that neither Pakistan nor India can afford to escalate tensions at present, as this would have a disastrous impact for the war on terror.

“The architects of this calamity in Mumbai have managed to raise a threat on our other (eastern) border. As we have these people (militants) on the run along our western border (with Afghanistan), our attention is being diverted at this critical time,” The News quoted Zardari as saying in a telephone interview from Islamabad.

Washington, Dec. 3 : An editorial in the Washington Post has been quite categorical in stating that Pakistan holds the key to salvaging not only its nascent civilian democracy, but also in taking steps to prevent it and India from sliding toward a war in the wake of last week’s terror attacks in Mumbai.

Though Pakistan is likely to enjoy Washington’s support, both from the outgoing Bush administration and the incoming Obama administration, the editorial cautions that Islamabad will have to come up with credible plans and show tangible results to permanently remove suspicions of a Pakistani link to the slaughter of nearly 200 people, including six Americans, in Mumbai.

New Delhi - Ten terrorists carried out the attacks on India's financial hub Mumbai last week, all of them arriving by boat from Pakistan's port city of Karachi, Mumbai's police chief Hasan Gafoor said Tuesday at a press briefing.

Gafoor said the one terrorist captured by the police had admitted he came from Punjab province of Pakistan.

Nine of the terrorists were killed during the stand-off with security forces that began late Wednesday and ended Saturday.

New Delhi, Dec 2 : As India stepped up pressure on Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, New Delhi has demanded Islamabad to handover about 20 fugitives.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in New Delhi today that a demarche has been handed over to the Pakistan High Commissioner in India on Monday night.

Washington, Dec. 2 : U. S. and Indian intelligence agencies received information as early as September that Pakistan-based terrorists were plotting attacks against Mumbai targets, an official said on Tuesday.

U. S. intelligence agencies reportedly warned their Indian counterparts in October of a potential attack "from the sea against hotels and business centers in Mumbai," a U. S. official told ABC News.

London/Islamabad, Dec. 2 : The political spotlight is now on Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the wake of the Mumbai massacre.

According to a report in The Independent, Pakistan''s recently elected civilian government has very limited room for manoeuvre as far dealing with the ISI is concerned.

The agency not only has the political and military clout to keep scrutiny at bay, but also possesses enough revenues to support its activities both within the country and outside.