ISI had nothing to do with 26/11: Gen Athar Abbas

[foxbat]

happening IN not BY, So as a victim yes we do hold a higher rank .... But dont Top it there are more terrorism in many other parts of teh world.

In and By actually, if we go by who TTP really are..

 

[Last Hope]

Well, thats a bad sign. No way can they be. We already know about Bhartis trying to prove Pak (esp ISI) as terrorists.
I personally feel, that if ISI was involved, it would have been worse.

And why would ISI want that? Unlik some, we arent terrorist organisation.
I reckon this comment was made to enhance Indo-Pak hiccups.

Regards.

 

[mjnaushad]

In and By actually, if we go by who TTP really are..

Care to explain....

 

[Secret Service]

i think final Indo-Pak war is inevitable ...

 

[ares]

Who are these ex army officers who were involved in carrying out 26/11?..and why haven't they been arrested yet?

 

[waz]

The story has been denied.


CNN-IBN, the Indian cable news channel, put out a story on Monday saying Pakistan military spokesman Gen. Athar Abbas had told them in an interview that former ISI officers could have been involved in planning the rampage, which killed over 160 people. The story, picked up by other Indian and Pakistani media, said Gen. Abbas “denied the ISI’s involvement but significantly added that the involvement of retired or former ISI and Pakistani army men could not be ruled out.”

But listen to the interview, embedded above CNN-IBN’s story, and it’s clear that Gen. Abbas denies the involvement of former ISI operatives in the strikes.


The involvement of former ISI operatives would be an important admission given that the agency is viewed as the cream of Pakistan’s military establishment and also the most controversial. Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported Monday, quoting a classified U.S. document from 2007, that interrogators at Guantanamo Bay were told to consider detainees with links to the ISI as being involved in terrorist or insurgent activity.

Gen. Abbas does acknowledge that a former army major, Tahawar Rana, could possibly be involved. Mr. Rana, now a Canadian citizen, is detained in the U.S., where he is facing trial in a Chicago court for helping plan the Mumbai attack.

But Gen. Abbas stresses that Mr. Rana had “no connection with the, any, intelligence agencies” and “a retired officer is a civilian, he’s on his own.”

Pakistan’s military issued a statement saying Gen. Abbas’s words had “been distorted and taken out of context.”

Surya Gangadharan, head of CNN-IBN’s foreign news department, said: “We stand by the story.”

It might seem unimportant, but this kind of thing shows how far apart Pakistan and India stand on the Mumbai issue, which is holding up wider peace talks. The widespread belief in India is that the ISI runs Pakistan, harbors terrorists that want to attack India and gets away with it. Pakistan’s military says it has severed links with militants who it nurtured in the 1980s and 1990s to fight the Soviets and then Indian troops in Kashmir and cannot be held responsible for the actions of retired officers.

Meanwhile, U.S. prosecutors Monday charged four other Pakistanis for their alleged involvement in the Mumbai attacks.

The names include a man known only by his alias “Major Iqbal,” a suspected former Pakistani army major. None of the four suspects are in U.S. custody.

The men’s names were added to a case which includes Mr. Rana and David Coleman Headley, the U.S.-Pakistani who is also in U.S. custody and charged with scouting sites for the Mumbai attacks, to which he has pleaded guilty. Mr. Rana is charged with aiding Mr. Headley and his trial is set to start soon. Mr. Rana has pleaded not guilty.

All men are suspected of links with Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani militant group set up by the military in the 1990s to fight Indian troops in Kashmir. LeT militants are widely accepted as responsible for the terror attack in Mumbai.

Pakistan’s military says it has severed links with the group. But India believes current military and ISI continue to have links with LET militants.

Pakistan Takes Issue With CNN-IBN - India Real Time - WSJ

 

[Areesh]

Pakistan’s military issued a statement saying Gen. Abbas’s words had “been distorted and taken out of context.”

Humm like I said earlier.

Exact words of Mr Athar Abbas would be better. This hinting thing seems a bit vague. Especially when he was talking to Indian journalists.

Great

 

[Jackdaws]

The problem in Pakistan is the sheer number of players who are associated with the state, its policies and its actions - the civilian govt, the Army, America, ISI, LeT, JeM - all of these are intertwined and at some point or the other have either been each others' ally or have been sworn enemies - these are internal dynamics of Pakistan and as an Indian I just want to see the perpetrators of 26/11 punished - that is all

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

A major diplomatic victory for India. After years of persuasion, finally Pakistan admitted the same. Earlier they denied everything and now after the revelations in US court by the culprits, they are ready to accept.

State terrorism, nothing else.

Noe let them have the guts to prosecute them..

How exactly is this State terrorism when Abbas clearly states 'ex ISI' and that there was no institutional involvement?

And iirc, wikileaks indicated that DG ISI Pasta indicated the same thing in a conversation with US officials back in 2008, so how exactly is this 'due to us pressure'?

If anything, this might be related to the current peace initiatives.

 

[ARSENAL6]

"Once he's retired he's on his own"

Yeah, right.

Who, exactly, does the ISI report to? Who can dismiss or promote its officers? If an officer has a complaint, who can he take it to? Nobody answerable to a democratic process, is that not so?

Think of how Israel gets away with the Holocaust Solomon, then you'll get the idea. However you can't say the same thing with the ISI. Its more safer, better and never used such crude and cruel tatics on any civillain population, than whatever Israel has done in the past.
I personally think and uphold the fact that ISI are so much better in putting the peace in ISrael and end its unessarly struggle. It wouldn't go around and causing unnessaly wars with its neighbours , gives up its WMD and end it s bitter racisms against Arabs. Israel ain't no Iraq y'know

 

[GUNS-N- ROSES]

i doubt wether india or pakistan will ever be able to come up with undeniable proof of involvement in each other terror attacks. the spy agencies are professionals and they know how to come up with deniability.

however the present status quo is very much in favour of india. pakistan cannot afford another terrorist attack on india for it will put pressure back on pakistan. as for pakistan it is sufferring due to faulty policies of its govt.

 

[Urbanized Greyhound]

It is a given that no matter how many "dossiers " we provide , it still wont be enough - The Pakistan Govt will arrest the accused , there will be a trial and they will be acquited due to lack of evidence, all this has happened before and shall predictably happen again which is why India should step up its covert capabilities. If the organizers or masterminds can somehow be taken out on foreign soil, India too shall have its plausible deniability ....

These pre-emptive practices are carried out by several countries facing the extreme threat of cross-border terrorism . Israel , Uncle Sam , Russia ,China, even the Philippines to name but a few . The GOI cannot be so callous as to play with their extreme responsibilities - the safety of lives and liberties of Indian citizens and clearly just upgrading the homeland security apparatus is not sufficient.

 

[foxbat]

a Pakistani general giving instructions to terrorists and indians intercept those calls make a video and show on live tv.....wtf...that was joke of the century...i remember that video , even my 5 years old cousin cant stop laughing...

A similar tape exposed Pakistan's lie about Kargil and dealt the biggest blow till date to Pakistan's Kashmir Plans..

 

[Spring Onion]

Whoever they were, their main objective was Indo-Pak war.

Directed by CIA headely . the end of the movie got messed up.

 

[Patriot]

When I watched Gen Athar Interview i knew right on that India Media will distort the statement as they had done before by distorting Musharraf's statement on US Aid but i am glad at least WSJ allowed rebuttal to be published.