US steps up pressure on Pak to act tough against terror

New Delhi: Stepping up pressure on Pakistan, the US on Wednesday night rejected its contention on non-state actors being responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks and demanded that Islamabad take "direct and tough" action against them. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made it clear that Pakistan must "act with urgency and transparency" on the leads in connection with the Mumbai incidents and implement its commitments to "cooperate fully" with India in the probe. Rice's tough message came after her talks with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee who asserted that India is "determined to act decisively to protect its territorial integrity and the right of citizens to a peaceful life with all the means at our disposal." Rice, who also met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and will be in Islamabad on Thursday to discuss the Mumbai attacks, said Pakistan must cooperate in the investigations and rejected the contention of President Asif Ali Zardari that "non-state actors" could be behind the terror strikes. "The fact is sometimes non-state actors operate from the confines of the state. There has to be very direct and tough action (by Islamabad) against them," she said