Livni offers assistance to India; will hold emergency meeting

By HERB KEINON
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni extended any assistance necessary to India to deal with the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and their aftermath during a conversation she held Thursday afternoon with her counterpart, Kumar Mukherjee Pranab. Livni condemned the attacks, and said, "Israel, India and the rest of the free world are on the front in the struggle against extremist terrorism, and unfortunately yesterday we received more proof of this. Dealing with terrorism needs to be a cooperative effort and obligates us to improve our cooperation in this area. Livni asked Pranab for help in getting real-time information on the developments in Mumbai, and for his government's assistance in evacuating Israelis from the areas where the attacks took place. Livni is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting in the ministry later Thursday afternoon to discuss the latest developments.