Pakistan gets UKanti-terror aid

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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"Three quarters of the most serious terror plots being investigated by UK authorities have links to Pakistan. Through these measures we hope to do more to break the chain of terror that links the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan to the streets of the UK and other countries around the world," Brown said.

British PM made the offers as he made whirlwind visits to both nations' capitals and tried to calm tensions following the assaults, which India has blamed on a Pakistani-based Islamist group. He urged the nuclear-armed rivals to cooperate to peacefully resolve the crisis, which the U.S. fears could divert Pakistan's attention away from battling al-Qaeda and Taliban militants along its border with Afghanistan, reported The Associated Press.

Violation row
Adding to tensions, Pakistani officials said Indian aircraft violated Pakistan's airspace twice Saturday - over the eastern city of Lahore and in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

India denied the claims, and Pakistani officials tried to downplay the matter yesterday. Zardari said the incursions were "technical" and that the media were "trying to sell bad news."

Earlier in New Delhi, British prime minister met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss security in the region after the Mumbai attacks.

India has blamed the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba Islamic group for the attacks, an assertion Brown echoed. "We also know that the group responsible (for the attacks) is LET, and they have a great deal to answer for," he said.

"I asked Manmohan Singh this morning [Sunday] if he would allow the British police, if they chose to so do, to interview the person arrested as one of the suspects... I have similarly asked President Zardari," he said, as reported by Agence France-Presse.

For Britain, which has a large South Asian population and colonial-era links to the region, the subject is of vital concern. Hours after Brown’s visit, Indian prime minister said that he wants to normalize relations with Pakistan amid rising tensions. Singh said he hopes relations between the neighbors can be "normalized," but this cannot happen until "our neighbor stops allowing its territory to be used for acts of terrorism against India."