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India blasts draw worldwide condemnation

U.S., France and Britain were among the many nations to speak out against the attacks in Mumbai, India.
/ Source: Reuters

World powers condemned the bombs that killed hundreds of people in the Indian city of Mumbai on Tuesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the string of explosions on commuter trains and at railway stations during the financial capital's evening rush hour was a "hideous incident."

"We condemn thoroughly this terrible terrorist incident," Rice told reporters in Washington. "We will stand with India in the war on terror. It just shows this kind of hideous incident can happen anywhere in the world against innocent people."

India has in the past blamed bomb attacks in the country on Muslim militants fighting its rule in Kashmir, accusing arch-rival Pakistan of providing them with support. But Islamabad was among the first to voice outrage on Tuesday.

"This despicable act of terrorism has resulted in the loss of a large number of precious lives," Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said, adding that President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had strongly condemned the "terrorist attack."

"Terrorism is a bane of our times and it must be condemned, rejected and countered effectively and comprehensively," the ministry said in a statement.

‘Brutal and shameful’
Britain, which last week marked the first anniversary of the suicide bombings on London's transport system that killed 52 people, branded the Mumbai attacks as "brutal and shameful."

"There can never be any justification for terrorism," Prime Minister Tony Blair said in a statement. "We stand united with India, as the world's largest democracy, through our shared values and our shared determination to defeat terrorism in all its forms."

France also pledged its solidarity with India for the Mumbai blasts and a series of grenade attacks earlier in the day by suspected Islamist militants in Indian Kashmir that killed seven people, six of them tourists.

The 25-nation European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana condemned what he called "these despicable acts of terrorism, which have caused death and injuries to scores of innocent people."

Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay said in a statement that the Mumbai rail attacks were "another awful reminder of the determination of terrorists who use murder as an instrument to advance their political ends."