Pak admits 26/11 plot hatched in Pak

After a spate of flip-flops, Pakistan on Thursday (February 12) finally admitted that “some part of the conspiracy” behind the Mumbai terror attacks was planned in the country and six persons have been arrested in this connection.

Pakistan’s response to India’s dossier on the November 26 Mumbai strikes was handed over to India’s High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal with a list of 30 questions. Islamabad also sought further information about Mumbai attackers including their finger prints and DNA samples.

“Some part of the conspiracy related to the Mumbai attacks was planned in Pakistan,” Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said, an admission that comes after a series of conflicting statements from Pakistani leadership.

Malik said nine persons have been named in an FIR registered today in connection with the Mumbai attacks and six persons have been arrested. Malik, who met Pal earlier in the day, said that some of those involved in Mumbai attacks were LeT operatives and the arrests were based on the preliminary investigations.

Pakistan has been under intense international pressure mobilised by India to crack down on the LeT and its frontal outfit Jamaat-Ud Dawah, which have been blamed for the Mumbai carnage that left 183 people dead.

“Actual investigation will start now as probe starts only after filing of FIR,” he said. Hamad Ameen Sadiq, who facilitated money transfer for the attacks, has been arrested along with another Pakistani national Javed Iqbal, who acquired the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) connections from Spain, Malik told a press conference.

Pak formally responds to Indian dossier

Pakistan formally conveyed to India its response to the dossier on the Mumbai attacks along with a set of 30 queries, seeking more information to take forward its investigation into the terror strikes.

Pakistan’s response to the Indian dossier was handed over to Indian High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal by Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir during a meeting at the Foreign Office in Islamabad this afternoon (Feb 12). “The 30 questions relate to information needed by Pakistani investigators to fill in the blanks in their probe,” a source said.

Earlier, Pal was briefed by Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik on the findings of the probe conducted by Federal Investigation Agency and the actions taken so far by Pakistani authorities.

On Ajmal Amir Kasav, Malik said his statement has to be recorded in Pakistani court, suggesting that Islamabad would like to seek the custody of 22-year-old Kasav, the lone surviving attacker nabbed during Mumbai attacks. Malik said the investigators had traced the shop from where the engine for the boat used by the attackers was purchased and arrested the owner of the shop.

Cases have been registered under the Anti-Terrorism Act against nine persons including Kasav, Malik said. Nine terrorists travelled to India from Karachi and three boats were used by them, he said. This is in variation from the version of India, which has said that ten terrorists came from Karachi.

Admitting the variation, Malik said it will be clarified with India. Three e-mail accounts and Voice over Internet Protocol was done from Spain by one Javed Iqbal who was living in Barcelona. “Don’t ask how we got him here. He was lured to Pakistan and arrested,” Malik said, adding “we have requested the Spanish government to cooperate”.

Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi, the LeT commander who India says masterminded the attacks, has been located and is under investigation, he said. Another LeT operative Zarar Shah, a communication expert, has also been located.

The money for the attackers was paid in Italy and the amount came from Islamabad. Some SIM cards used by the terrorists were procured from India. “We would like to know how those SIMs were procured. We would also like to know how they were able to travel in a dinghy with weapons and grenades,” he said.

Malik also sought more details and clearer pictures of some of the suspects from India. He said India had given an unclear photograph of one Ali from Sialkot. “It is as common a name as John in New York and Sharma in Delhi.”

“We have asked them to reply to 30 questions. We need answers to those queries to strengthen the prosecution. “We have done our best in investigating the attacks. We have gone the extra mile in probing the attacks,” Malik said.

Sadiq, who hails from Punjab province, was identified as the “main operator” in facilitating and coordinating the Mumbai attacks. Malik identified two other accused only as Khan and Riaz. Malik did not specify whether Lakhvi was named in the case. He merely said Lakhvi had been detained and was under investigation.

Malik said Sadiq had operated two bank accounts from which transactions related to the attacks were made. Information provided by Sadiq led investigators to two militant hideouts one in Karachi and another located a short distance from the southern port city.

The suspect identified as Khan purchased the engine that powered the inflatable rubber boat used by the attackers to travel from a trawler to the Mumbai shore and other articles like life jackets. Khan also gave sleuths a phone number that helped them trace Sadiq, Malik said.

Javed Iqbal, who was living in Barcelona, was “lured” to Pakistan and arrested, Malik said. Iqbal had named some other persons living in Spain and linked to the attacks. Pakistan has asked the Spanish government to arrest these persons, Malik said.

The Pakistani investigators also traced three boats that were used by the terrorists. Malik named two of the boats as Al-Husseni and Al-Fauz. Al-Husseini was reportedly capsized at sea while Al-Fauz was traced by investigators even though it was repainted and renamed Mashallah. The crew for both these boats was the same and they had been identified, Malik said.

“We have located those locations which were used by the terrorists before launching themselves. They had some kind of training and went to the ocean twice. Some of the accused who have been arrested, they have given us the full run-down,” he said.

Malik said the leads and financing trail connected the attackers to their leaders, including Lakhvi and LeT communications expert Zarar Shah, and would be “helpful for the investigators to move forward in the FIR”.

Pakistani investigators had traced three e-mail accounts linked to the attacks and the concerned service providers. They had also traced payment made from Islamabad for some SIMs of Callphonex, a firm whose service provider and domain name are in Houston, US.

The owner of the firm in Islamabad through which the payments were made and a person whose identity cards were used to make the payments had been arrested, Malik said. Malik said he had briefed Indian High Commissioner Pal about the findings of the probe. Pal was also given a copy of the report prepared by the Federal Investigation Agency.

A set of 30 queries handed over by Pakistan for further information about the Mumbai attack include Kasav’s statement in court, details of seizures made by Indian authorities, information on how the attackers had acquired Indian mobile phone SIM cards and details of intercepts of phone conversations between the attackers and their handlers.

Giving details about the case, Malik said FIR number 01/2009 was registered at the Special Investigation Unit police station in Islamabad and the case would be handled by Special Investigation Group, which probes all terrorist acts.

Reading out details from the “progress report” on the Pakistani probe, Malik said LeT terrorist Abu al Qama, also linked to the attacks, is in custody and under investigation. LeT communications expert Zarar Shah is also “in custody and under investigation”, Malik said.

However, the real identities of two LeT handlers – Abu Hamza and Kafa – are yet to be established and further investigation is in progress, he said. Apart from Javed Iqbal, another person linked to the VoIP phones used by the handlers of the terrorists, Mohammed Ashfaq, had been arrested, he said.

A Thuraya satellite phone used by the terrorists was sold in a Middle Eastern country, which had been contacted for getting further information. Pakistan also needed more details and forensic evidence from India on the weapons used by the attackers, Malik said.

Pakistan would also contact the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Interpol for details on phone SIMs obtained by the terrorists from Austria and VoIP numbers, for which payments were made in Spain and Italy, Malik said. Later, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said Pakistan had demonstrated its commitment to bring to book the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack.

“Our response has yet again demonstrated Pakistan’s sincerity and earnestness and our commitment to fight against terrorism as also our sincerity to bring perpetrators of Mumbai attacks to justice,” Basit told reporters. “And now, we hope India would reciprocate with the same spirit of cooperation,” he said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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