US says terrorism a menace, offers help in probe

SPEAKING AGAINST TERROR: US Ambassador David Mulford expresses his anguish for blast victims.

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New Delhi: The United States of America, United Kingdom, France and Israel have condemned the Jaipur serial blasts.

The US Ambassador to India, David C Mulford, met Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon on Wednesday and offered help in the investigations.

"We condemn those who have carried out these ruthless attacks on civilians. We offer whatever assistance is required in analysing or understanding the aftermath of this tragedy. Americans have a very special place for India but also for Jaipur," Mulford said.

"We'll certainly follow the aftermath ourselves, we're close to the Indian government and are able and willing to help in anyway we can," he said.

Menon though was careful to not point fingers at any outfit based in Pakistan or at Islamabad.

Menon did say though that infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir and terrorism in India would be high on External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's agenda when he visits Pakistan next week.

"We will not jump to conclusions about who caused yesterday's blasts. The anti-terror mechanism is a channel that shares information and communicates on terrorism related issues. The other is when something like happens then you can communicate through these channels," he said.

Pakistan, with whom India has a joint anti-terror mechanism, has also condemned the blasts.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani condemned the blasts and sympathised with the victims.

Gilani was quoted by state-run television as saying that terrorism is a menace, which needs concerted efforts to deal with. "I am saddened by the tragic incident and the loss of life, and pray for the fast recovery of the injured," he was quoted as saying in his message to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

(With inputs from IANS)