New Delhi: The FBI has sought access to interrogate Mumbai terror attack suspects in Pakistan which has so far not agreed to it, US Ambassador to India David Mulford disclosed on Monday.
Sleuths of the top US investigating agency have gone to Pakistan in this regard, he told PTI in an interview here.
"They (FBI) have sought access to people who have been detained. As far as I know, that (access) has not been given. We are waiting for it, (for) that element of cooperation (from Pakistan)," Mulford said on his last working day as the American envoy.
The US Ambassador also disclosed that the FBI officials, who had spent time in Mumbai to help investigate the terror attack in which 183 people, including six American nationals, lost their lives, were willing to testify at the trial against the lone surviving terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab.
"My understanding is they (FBI) will be prepared to testify," he said when asked whether the sleuths would depose in the case.
Noting that the FBI had cooperated for the first time with Indian agencies in a terror investigation here, Mulford said the American sleuths directly interacted with the Mumbai Police and worked with them in an "open and transparent fashion".
Underlining that FBI used high quality technology to probe the attack case, he said "the evidence we gathered has high credibility and once it was passed to Pakistan and other countries who were adversely affected, people had to pay serious attention."
He said the evidence was "very very compelling" to emphasise the point that the terror attack was "planned in Pakistan, it was managed from Pakistani territory, the people came from Pakistan and all that is very very clear."
Mulford did not give the names of the suspects whom the FBI has sought access to in Pakistan, saying he was not aware but said they are the ones who have been detained there.
Pakistan has said it has arrested six people, including Hamad Amin Sadiq, who Islamabad says was the main conspirator of the attacks.
There is no clarity, however, on whether top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, whom India named in the dossier as the mastermind, and another senior leader Zarar Shah have been arrested or not.
The Ambassador said the US is "very very committed to following up" on what Pakistan is doing to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice.
"Because we have lost six of our people, we have to pursue that matter and try and bring the perpetrators to justice," he said.
Mulford noted that there was "lack of clarity" on what Pakistan was doing for "many weeks" after the attack because of different pronouncements being made by different people.
The situation, he said, "was very confused and this created certain lack of credibility in the minds of people," he said.
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