Pakistan admits India attack link

[yarmook]

Page last updated at 09:32 GMT, Thursday, 12 February 2009
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Mumbai raid 'planned in Pakistan'

The Mumbai attacks created new tension between India and Pakistan
A senior Pakistani official has admitted for the first time that last year's attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai were partly planned in Pakistan.

Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said that several suspects are now being held and a case has been filed which may lead to their prosecution.

At least 173 people were killed in November's attacks.

Tensions between between India and Pakistan rose after Delhi said all 10 gunmen were Pakistani.

Pakistan denied any responsibility in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, but later it admitted that the sole gunman captured alive was Pakistani.

On Thursday Mr Malik told a news conference: "Some part of the conspiracy has taken place in Pakistan. We have lodged an FIR [first information report] into the case."

'State elements'

India has accused the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group of being behind the Mumbai attack and has demanded that some of its leaders be extradited to Delhi.

It has also suggested what it calls Pakistani "state elements" were involved, something Islamabad denies. Delhi has handed over a dossier to the Pakistani government which it says contains evidence to support its case.

Last month Pakistan said it had arrested 71 people in a crackdown on groups allegedly linked to the attacks.

Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said then that officials had also shut several schools run by a charity linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Pakistan was serious about fighting extremism, he added, but it needed more information from India to prosecute suspects in court.


BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | Mumbai raid 'planned in Pakistan'

 

[Patriot]

Any Pakistani citizen who was involved in this should be hanged imo.They are traitors and damaged Pakistan's Reputation.

 

[genmirajborgza786]

Hang this rahman malik "GADDAR" it is pakistan's bad luck (bud naseebi) that we have rulers worst then snakes honestly time for gen.kiani to do some serious thinking regarding the present establishment's intentions

 

[Khajur]

Finally....the Denial stops flowing..

 

[zhero]

A good first step.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan admits India attack link


A senior Pakistani official has admitted for the first time that last year's attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai were partly planned in Pakistan.

Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said that a number of suspects from the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group had been held and may be prosecuted.

At least 173 people were killed in November's attacks.

Tensions between between India and Pakistan rose after Delhi said all 10 gunmen were Pakistani.

Pakistan denied any responsibility in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, but later admitted that the sole gunman captured alive was one of its citizens.

'Mastermind'

On Thursday Mr Malik told a news conference that legal steps had begun against eight suspects which could lead to prosecutions.

"Some part of the conspiracy has taken place in Pakistan. We have lodged an FIR [first information report] into the case," he told a news conference in Islamabad.

He said six of the suspects "are now in custody" while two others remain at large. It is not clear when the suspects were arrested - Pakistan said in January that 71 suspects had been detained. Arrests began in early December.

"The attackers left from Karachi on a boat hired from Balochistan [province]," Mr Malik said. "An e-mail claiming responsibility for the attack was sent by Zarrar Shah of the Lashkar-e-Taiba."

Mr Shah was arrested at a Lashkar camp in December in Pakistani-administered Kashmir by security forces.

Another man arrested at the time was Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, described as Lashkar's chief of operations.

Mr Malik named Hamad Amin, a Karachi resident currently in Pakistani custody as the mastermind behind the attacks.

His remarks follow continuing pressure from the Indian government and the international community over Pakistan's response.

India has consistently accused Pakistan of not doing enough to arrest those behind the attacks.

The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad says that this is the first time that the Pakistani authorities have acknowledged the full extent of the charges made by the Indian government.

Our correspondent says it also is the first time a serving Pakistan government official has acknowledged that a foreign terror plot was hatched in Pakistan - an admission that could hold serious implications for the country's security establishment.

'State elements'

Thursday's remarks by Mr Malik come after two months of rising tensions between India and Pakistan.

The Indian government has demanded that Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders be extradited, while Pakistan has insisted any prosecutions would take place on its soil.

Delhi has also suggested that what it calls Pakistani "state elements" were involved, something Islamabad has consistently denied.

Islamabad also derided the contents of a dossier which Delhi said contained evidence to support its case.

Officials said they had also shut several schools run by a charity linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Earlier this week Pakistan said it wanted to prosecute suspects in the Mumbai attacks but needed more evidence from India to do so.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Some more details from the Press conference:

Pakistan has lodged a 'first information report' with police and six people are in custody in connection with the attacks, Malik added.

The case was registered with a special investigation unit in Islamabad.

'This FIR has been launched. I want to show all of you, I want to show our nation, I want to show the international community, I want to show all those who have been a victim of terrorism, that we mean business,' he said.

Tracing telephone calls and bank transfers had led to the capture of a key figure in the conspiracy, Hammad Amin Sadiq, Malik said.

'He was basically the main operator,' Malik said, adding that his interrogation led to the raid on two hideouts, one in the port city, and one two hours outside.

'We have located those locations which were used by the terrorists before launching themselves,' Malik said.

'They had some kind of training, they went into ocean,' Malik said, saying they had sailed from Karachi.

'Some of the accused who have been arrested, they have given us the full rundown.'

Malik said the breakthrough in the investigation had resulted from tracing the fishing vessel used by the militants, purchases of equipment like life jackets and the engine for the rubber dinghy that militants came ashore in in Mumbai.

Rehman said Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah, two members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba jihadi group, were still in custody.

He said two other men being held were Khan and Riaz, withholding their full names so as not to compromise the investigation.

One of those arrested, identified as Javed Iqbal, was lured back to Pakistan from the Spanish city of Barcelona, Malik said.

Investigators had also discovered that some funds transferred from Italy and Spain were used to finance the attack, Austrian telephone sim cards were used, and he also spoke of a link, possibly an Internet domain, to Houston in the United States.

Malik said further information Islamabad had requested from India included DNA samples of the gunmen – nine of whom were shot dead, and one a Pakistani who is currently in Indian custody – and their full names.

One of the terrorists involved in the Samjhota Express attack was also involved in carrying out the Mumbai attacks.

Al Fauz, the boat carrying the suspects was also in possession and the shop from where the engine for the boat was bought had been located and the suspected crew had been identified.

He said that among the 30 questions they had for India, Pakistan wanted to know why the fishing trawler was not intercepted in Gujarat and where it was refuelled. Pakistan also asked for details of the phone conversations between the terrorists and their handlers.
http://beta.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connec...ck-partly-planned-in-pakistan-rehman-malik-ss

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Finally....the Denial stops flowing..

More like finally the investigation is complete and a proper statement based on the investigation can be released - this isn't denial, its called following the proper process and conducting an investigation to confirm, as much as possible, what happened.

Of course we realize that this is an alien concept in India, where investigators are blessed with supernatural powers that allow them to implicate the ISI and Pakistan while en route to the crime scene.

 

[foofighter]

After all the denials, finally sense prevails in Pakistan. This is going to silence much of the Pakistani users here IMO, who have blatantly been doubting India's claim.

 

[Jihad]

More like finally the investigation is complete and a proper statement based on the investigation can be released - this isn't denial, its called following the proper process and conducting an investigation to confirm, as much as possible, what happened.

Of course we realize that this is an alien concept in India, where investigators are blessed with supernatural powers that allow them to implicate the ISI and Pakistan while en route to the crime scene.

Straight to the point, AM you are the man.
It indeed looks like the investigation is finally complete, and we have every right to deny any allegations coming from India untill the results are there.
But then again, India doesn't really know what an investigation means, because theirs took incredibly long and almost cost a war between both nations.
Fingerpointing and distorting the rules of law and justice is something some of our Indian friends are good at, but luckily, our government kept its cool and simply proceeded with calmness over the situation, afterall, good senses will always prevail.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

After all the denials, finally sense prevails in Pakistan. This is going to silence much of the Pakistani users here IMO, who have blatantly been doubting India's claim.

err .. please read my post above. What did you expect Pakistan to do without completing its own investigation? Just accept whatever India and her media said?

Thats not the way it works - the GoP has waited till its investigation was complete and publicized its conclusions.

 

[Patriot]

After all the denials, finally sense prevails in Pakistan. This is going to silence much of the Pakistani users here IMO, who have blatantly been doubting India's claim.

Ah, No..Indian Media and Indian People claim that ISI is involved was not proved.

 

[Jihad]

After all the denials, finally sense prevails in Pakistan. This is going to silence much of the Pakistani users here IMO, who have blatantly been doubting India's claim.

Or India's blatant claims of Pakistan's involvement without backing it up with sensible proof?
Why should we accept India's baseless claims untill we both have conducted serious dialogue and understanding between eachother, plus the fact that we had to receive the proper information from India and thus conduct our own investigation into this matter, and after all that, we can come to a conclusion and PERHAPS we might have to agree with SOME of India's claims, or perhaps not, we'll know soon, but don't get too excited, crying or screaming that Pakistan is the agressor from the very start without using your logics and brains will not help both of us.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

But then again, India doesn't really know what an investigation means, because theirs took incredibly long and almost cost a war between both nations.
Fingerpointing and distorting the rules of law and justice is something some of our Indian friends are good at, but luckily, our government kept its cool and simply proceeded with calmness over the situation, afterall, good senses will always prevail.

Well, they somehow knew even before the investigation started that it was the ISI, and then when they finished most it, and came up with a dossier than they shared with the rest of the world, it concluded that there was no evidence of Pakistani institutional involvement, but they still continued to insist the ISI was involved.

It just seemed like they were hell bent on ranting about the 'ISI was involved' regardless of what the evidence suggested.

 

[Jihad]

Honestly, I think some Indians get carried away and are led by their emotions far too often when it comes to Mumbai, this deteriorates their sensible thinking and often leads to misunderstanding especially when it comes to the basic rules of law and order.
I can understand why they are so emotional, but please, set them aside because the only way this can be solved is by mutual co-operation.

 

[foofighter]

Or India's blatant claims of Pakistan's involvement without backing it up with sensible proof?
Why should we accept India's baseless claims untill we both have conducted serious dialogue and understanding between eachother, plus the fact that we had to receive the proper information from India and thus conduct our own investigation into this matter, and after all that, we can come to a conclusion and PERHAPS we might have to agree with SOME of India's claims, or perhaps not, we'll know soon, but don't get too excited, crying or screaming that Pakistan is the agressor from the very start without using your logics and brains will not help both of us.

Do you really think your government will openly accept ISI's link? If you listen to the entire press conference, he confessed that they recieved marine as well as weapons training within Pakistan. And no independent terrorist organisation can recieved such combative trining without support of state actors. That is also what the US said.