UK says no evidence of British link to Mumbai attacks
LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Friday there was no evidence to confirm reports that Britons of Pakistani origin were involved in the attacks in Mumbai, but warned it was too soon to reach any conclusions.
London's Evening Standard newspaper, quoting Indian government sources, had reported that some of the gunmen were British.
A British security source told Reuters the reports could just be speculative but might contain "elements of truth."
"We are keeping an open mind. It is likely to take a little bit longer before we can say categorically one way or the other," the source said.
Brown told reporters he had talked to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the attacks, in which more than 140 people were killed and hundreds of others injured.
"At no point has the prime minister of India suggested to me that there is evidence at this stage of any terrorist of British origins," he said.
"But obviously there are huge investigations that are being done and I think it would be premature to draw any conclusions at all."
The British Foreign Office said it had spoken to Indian authorities at what it called a high level.
"They have said that there is no evidence that anyone, either those shot or those in custody -- the attackers -- are British," a Foreign Office spokesman said.
"The Indian chief minister who was reported as having said Britons were involved has said no such thing either publicly or privately," he added.
TRADE MISSION
Erika Mann, a German member of the European Parliament who was on a trade mission in Mumbai, earlier issued a statement saying she had heard that British Pakistanis took part in the attacks and were killed.
She later told Reuters after flying to London that she was just referring to local Indian media reports and did not have any official confirmation.
"British citizenship and Pakistani origin, this was what was said in the news media in Mumbai," she said.
The Evening Standard ran a banner headline in its Friday edition saying: "Mumbai Gunmen 'were British'."
It said two British-born Pakistanis were captured along with eight others after Indian commando units stormed two hotels and a Jewish center in central Mumbai to free hostages.
London police said they had no information, referring calls to the Indian authorities.
About 750,000 people of Pakistani origin live in Britain, making them the second-largest ethnic minority after the Indian community.
Three of four suicide bombers who blew themselves up on London's public transport system in July 2005, killing more than 50 people, were Britons of Pakistani origin.
Britain's security services estimate that hundreds of young British-born Pakistanis have traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the past decade to attend militant training camps.
(Additional reporting by Mark Trevelyan in London and David Graham in Berlin; Editing by Giles Elgood)
