14 January 2009 - 09H20

Pakistan PM says Mumbai file 'not evidence': state media

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has downplayed the significance of the dossier compiled by India about the Mumbai attacks, calling it "information" and "not evidence", state media said.

"All that has been received from India is some information. I say information because these are not evidence," the Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Gilani as saying late Tuesday to lawmakers in parliament.

Gilani said the file about the November attacks -- which killed 165 civilians and security personnel, as well as nine gunmen -- had been handed over to Pakistan's interior ministry for its review.

The prime minister, who said last week that the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency had provided India with feedback about the file via the CIA, said Pakistan would continue to share its findings with New Delhi.

Gilani reiterated a call for a joint probe into the attacks, calling for "serious sustained and pragmatic cooperation."

"We are prepared to cooperate with India to uncover the full facts," he said.

Relations between India and Pakistan have been badly strained since the Mumbai attacks, which New Delhi has blamed on the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Islamabad has acknowledged that the lone surviving gunman, who is in Indian custody, is a Pakistani national.

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