A Pakistani investigation team is in Sri Lanka to probe reports that elements in the island nation were linked to the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, interior minister Rehman Malik said today.
The team is investigating whether there are any Sri Lankan links to the attack, Malik told reporters. It will also review the probe conducted by Sri Lankan authorities into the same incident, he added.
The Pakistani team has gone to Sri Lanka for two weeks though the duration of the trip can be extended, Malik said.
Pakistan is determined to expose those who were behind the attack and cooperation with Sri Lanka will continue to ensure a speedy probe, he said. The investigation can be strengthened through exchange of information between the two countries, he added.
Malik had said last month that the Sri Lankan government had handed over some important clues that were being examined and these leads were expected to help nab the persons behind the attack.
Prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani directed Malik to send a team of experts to Sri Lanka after president Mahinda Rajapaksa gave him clues linking elements in the island nation with terrorist attacks in Pakistan, including the strike on the Sri Lankan cricket team.
Eight persons were killed and over 20 others, including several Sri Lankan players, injured when terrorists ambushed the team’s motorcade at a busy traffic roundabout on March 3.
