Italian police say they have arrested two Pakistanis accused of helping to fund and provide logistical support for last year's attacks on Mumbai.

The two were arrested on Saturday in a police raid in the northern Italian city of Brescia, AP reported.

The chief of the anti-terrorist police force in Brescia said the pair allegedly used a stolen identity to send money to a US company to activate internet phone accounts.

The lines allowed the attackers and their handlers to keep in touch even during the Mumbai terrorist attack in November 2008.

Italian authorities have reportedly shared details of their identities with Pakistani officials.

Ten militants killed more than 170 people in an assault on luxury hotels and other sites in India's financial capital in November 2008.

Senior officials in New Delhi say the five-year-old composite dialogue between the two neighbors will remain on hold until Pakistan begins prosecuting those behind the attacks.

JR/SS/HGL