LeT not yet on Pakistan's radar: Gen Petraeus

Washington, March 17 : The US continues to push Pakistan to take action against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), blamed for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, as such jihadi terror outfits are still not on Islamabad's radar, according to a top US general.

The need to take action against the Pakistan-based terror outfit has been Washington's "source of dialogue" with Islamabad, General David Petraeus, head of the US Central Command, told the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday.

"There's no question but that there are elements in Pakistan that have not yet been the focus of the Pakistani counter insurgency efforts," he said in response to concern expressed by Senator Claire McCaskill over Pakistan's inability in taking "substantial action" against the LeT.

"Obviously India has expressed its concerns as well (on LeT)," he said adding, "The rise of LeT and the need to take action against it has been a 'source of dialogue' with Pakistani authorities."

Petraeus said the Obama administration had quite a bit of interaction with the Pakistani government over LeT's activities after the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people, including six Americans.

While Pakistan is "waging a serious war against terrorism in the tribal areas of the country bordering Afghanistan, in particular the Taliban and Al Qaeda", jihadi elements like LeT were not yet on the radar of Pakistan, he said.

Responding to McCaskill's concern over LeT's growing strength, with reference to recent terrorist attack on Indians in Kabul, Petraeus said that Pakistan army was taking stringent action against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan.

Petraeus' observations came close on the heels of US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake asking Pakistan to rein in the LeT, given its increasing capacity to target other countries, including the US.

"The LeT is a terrorist group based in Pakistan that has increasingly global ambitions and global scope-and so it's in the interests of Pakistan to rein in its activities," Blake said in an interview Saturday.