Islamabad: SAARC nations could ask one another for the surrender of terrorists guilty of cross-border outrages like the Mumbai attacks to counter terrorism which is "spreading like a disease" in the region, two of Pakistan s leading civil society groups said today.

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan chairperson Asma Jehangir and South Asian Free Media Association secretary general Imtiaz Alam, who today visited Amritsar on a peace mission, said the states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation must tackle terrorism as a common problem instead of hurling accusations at each other.

"Terrorism is spreading like a disease. It has engulfed Afghanistan, a SAARC member, and has spread to most of Pakistan too. Some traces of it are already visible in India where a majority of the South Asian population lives," they said, in a joint statement.

They added, "It is only in this context that SAARC states could ask one another for the surrender of terrorists guilty of cross-border outrages."

Jehangir and Alam stressed the need for a joint Indo-Pak investigation into the Mumbai incident and a "judicious prosecution of the culprits". They called on the Pakistan government to "do the needful since terrorism was the common enemy of both countries" and urged India and the media in both countries to "show restraint".

At the bilateral level, India and Pakistan must strengthen their Joint Anti-Terrorism mechanism while at the regional level, they should evolve a mechanism to "investigate and control cross-border crimes and terrorism" and set up a judicial forum to prosecute culprits wanted in one country or the other, they said.
Source : PTI