ISLAMABAD: Pakistani investigating officials have told an anti-terrorism court here that the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks received training at various centres of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba across the country, including navigational training in Karachi.
Pakistani media reported on Sunday that five inspectors of the Crime Investigation Department (CID), who are prosecution witnesses in the case, informed the ATC court in Rawalpindi about the training details and capabilities of the accused — Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Mazhar Iqbal alias Abu Al Qama, Hammad Amin Sadiq and Abdul Wajid alias Zarar Shah.
The testimony is significant because viewed along with two recent developments, this seems to mark a change of tack in Pakistan from outright recalcitrance to possible cooperation with India in the 26/11 probe.
Recently, Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency ( FIA), which is probing the 26/11 attacks, approached the ATC court in Rawalpindi seeking day-to-day trial in the case. Besides, the Pakistani government has proposed amendments to the country's evidence laws to do away with mandatory consent of the accused for collection of their voice samples.
Pakistan's recent steps in connection with the 26/11 trial coincide with renewal of cricket ties between India and Pakistan and also a proposed visit of the country's interior minister Rehman Malik to New Delhi to operationlize the new visa regime between the two countries.
However, observers are still to be convinced as LeT has been a long-standing strategic asset for the Pakistani establishment.
The five CID inspectors — Muhammad Nawaz, Tahir Hussain, Khadim Hussain, Saleemullah and Hafiz Imran—maintained that they had collected information on LeT's training centres around the country and forwarded the report to the government.
They said the perpetrators of the attacks were trained at LeT centres at Yousaf Goth in Karachi, Buttle in Mansehra, Mirpur Sakro in Thatta and Muzaffarabad. The LeT abandoned these soon after the attacks.
"Lakhvi was LeT's operational commander who trained other militants. He was an expert in using firearms and improvised explosive devices. He also remained 'commander' of LeT in Azad Kashmir," the inspectors' statement said.
The inspectors told the court that suspected abettors Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hammad Amin Sadiq and Shahid Jameel Riaz were also trained at LeT centres and at sea near Yousaf Goth in Karachi's Gadap town.
Chaudhary Zulfiqar Ali, the special public prosecutor of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)), told the court that the witnesses were responsible officials who had recorded their statements without any pressure.
Khwaja Mohammad Haris, Lakhvi's counsel, asked the prosecution witnesses whether they had seen the suspects getting training at the LeT camps. The officials said they had collected information through their informers. "If the statements are true, then it showed negligence on the part of witnesses" Haris said. The hearing was adjourned till November 17.
