Pakistani Officers Helped Plan Mumbai Attacks, Says India

Pakistani officers helped plan Mumbai attacks, says India
Police hint at extensive army involvement in rampage

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009...mumbai-attacks

Randeep Ramesh, South Asia correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 26 February 2009 16.04 GMT

More serving Pakistani army officers may be named as conspirators in the Mumbai terror attacks, according to officials dealing with the case, after an 11,509-page charge sheet identified two high-ranking Pakistani military personnel who directed militants during the three-day killing spree.

Police in India named Colonel R Sadatullah of the Pakistani army's Special Communications Organisation (SCO) as part of the conspiracy to attack India's financial centre – a bloody rampage that left more than 170 people dead. Investigators said his email account was used to set up the "voice over internet" system – which allows calls to be made over the web.

Today Indian television contacted Sadatullah after being given his number by the Pakistani army switchboard. He hung up. Another accused is known as "Major General Sahab", whose title is used repeatedly in the taped conversation between the gunmen and their handlers.

The general manager of the SCO is Major General Muhammad Khalid Rao, an expert on China who joined the corps in 1979. The SCO operates only on the Pakistani side of the Himalayan region of Kashmir – which is claimed by both Pakistan and India.

Brigadier Azmat Ali, Pakistan's army spokesperson, said the "charge sheet does not accurately identify army men allegedly linked to 26/11. There are many Colonel Sadatullahs in the Pakistan army."

Speaking on condition of anonymity, Indian officials said "it was not a good sign to see this kind of response from the Pakistani army … supplementary charge sheets will be added as the investigation progresses and might be many more [Pakistani army] names to add".

Experts said it was significant that the Pakistani army's telecommunications officers had become part of the investigation – pointing out that the militants were guided by phone calls from their handlers in Pakistan.

During the 58-hour siege of Mumbai, a total of 284 calls, running into 995 minutes, were made by the 10 gunmen using mobile phones from the Taj Mahal hotel, Oberoi-Trident and a Jewish centre – where hostages were taken and shot.

Mumbai police point the finger at 38 individuals, 35 of whom are yet to be apprehended. The three who are in police custody include the lone surviving Pakistani gunmen, Ajmal Amir Kasab, and two Indians, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ansari. "The investigation is not over," said the officials.

The two Pakistani army officials are mentioned as accomplices of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Islamist militant group which India says was behind the attacks. The others charged include the group's founder Hafeez Muhammad Saeed and fellow members Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, Zarar Shah and Abu Hamza.

The Pakistani government, which has a number of men in custody, says it will not allow its nationals to face trial in India.