Hydrablog

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/30/AR2006093000247.html
Pakistan spy agency behind Mumbai bombs: police
By C.J. Kurrien
Reuters
Saturday, September 30, 2006; 11:29 AM [India] [followup on July’s commuter-train attacks in Bombay] [Indian authorities are now saying it wasn’t just jihadis among them but, rather, Pakistani state sympathizers using their good offices] [if true, this is truly explosive] [if false it’s still explosive] [use psci 469] [note: remember India’s is the world 3rd of 4th most populous Muslim contry despite Lord Montbadden’s divisions] [*****************] [ditto]
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian police said on Saturday they had found evidence that Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out the July 11 bombings in Mumbai and Pakistan's military spy agency was behind the plot.
Pakistan and Lashkar swiftly rejected the accusations. A Pakistani foreign ministry spokeswoman called them baseless and irresponsibile.
The bombings of rush-hour commuter trains and stations in India's financial hub, which killed 186 people and wounded hundreds more, was one of the country's worst attacks. [ap piece said 207] [*********]
In the immediate aftermath, investigators blamed disaffected Indian Muslims with links to old foe Pakistan, and named Lashkar-e-Taiba as a prime suspect.
On Saturday, Mumbai's police chief said his team had cracked the case and found solid evidence as a result of what he called one of India's biggest and most widespread investigations. [***************]
"We have solved the July 11 bombings case. The whole attack was planned by Pakistan's ISI and carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba and their operatives in India," A.N. Roy, Mumbai's police chief, told a news conference. [explosive] [********]
ISI or the Inter-Services Intelligence agency is Pakistan's military spy agency [*****] while Lashkar is a frontline Islamist group fighting against Indian rule in the disputed region of Kashmir.
Although Lashkar was banned by Pakistan in early 2002, security analysts suspect it is still in favor with the ISI.
"These blasts were executed very professionally and with high precision and were well planned," Roy said.
"But we made slow progress, used scientific methods, followed every small lead ... it has been a beautiful piece of highly professional investigation."
PAKISTAN DENIAL
Pakistan reacted angrily to Roy's announcement.
Tariq Azim Khan, Pakistan's Minister of State for Information, called it India's knee-jerk reaction in blaming Pakistan for militant acts when there are several groups running insurgencies within India.
"India has always chosen this path of pointing fingers at Pakistan without evidence," he said. "If they have any evidence, they should provide us evidence and we will carry out our investigations."
A spokesman for Lashkar also denied involvement. [*****] [******]
"We reject the Indian allegations. They have named us in an effort to cover up their own failure and security lapses," said Irbaz Khan by telephone from an unknown location.
The Indian announcement came a day after Mumbai police said they had arrested four more people in connection with the seven blasts that ripped through commuter trains and platforms.
The arrests took the total number in custody for alleged roles in the blasts to 15, Roy said. He said that at least 12 Indian men and 11 Pakistanis were involved in the bombings.
While all the 12 Indians were in custody, one Pakistani man was killed in the blasts, another was shot dead in a gun battle with Mumbai police and the rest had either returned to Pakistan or were at large in India, he said.
Many among the Indians alleged to be involved had visited Pakistan several times and had trained at Lashkar bases in Bahawalpur town in Punjab province, close to the India-Pakistan frontier, Roy said.
TESTING PEACE PROCESS
One of the Pakistani men brought about 15-20 kg (33-44 lb) of RDX explosives to make the bombs in Mumbai which were kept in pressure cookers, placed inside bags and covered with newspapers or umbrellas after being left to explode through timers. [***********]
Funds to carry out the attack also came from Pakistan via a Lashkar operative in Saudi Arabia, Roy said. [********]
The first lead came from tracking telephone conversations. A call from a Mumbai man to an Indian village near the India-Nepal border talking about the blasts led to one of the first arrests of a man from the village, [********]he said.
Two weeks ago, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed on the sidelines of a Non-Aligned summit in Havana to resume a peace process which India had frozen following the Mumbai attacks.
Some Indian analysts said they expected New Delhi to remain committed to the peace process but step up pressure on Pakistan to crack down on groups like Lashkar. [********]
"This is not a setback. India can't afford to close shop," said C. Raja Mohan, strategic affairs editor at the Indian Express newspaper.
"In fact, this will be a test for the joint mechanism set up to fight terrorism and see whether it will work," he said referring to an agreement in Havana to set up a joint agency to tackle terrorism.
© 2006 Reuters