Mumbai cops focusing on Lashkr leaders

Wall Street Journal:

Mumbai police believe a senior Lashkar-e-Taiba planner in Pakistan masterminded the Mumbai terrorist attacks last week and was among several leaders of the militant group who were in touch by satellite links with the 10 terrorists in the two days before they landed in India.

A senior police official said that, in all, the names and numbers of five members of the Pakistani group's leadership were contained in a satellite phone left behind by the terrorists on a fishing vessel they hijacked then abandoned before reaching Mumbai. Records from the phone show calls had been made from it to these five men.

Among them: Yusuf Muzammil, head of Lashkar-e-Taiba's terrorism operations against India. The senior Indian police official said he was identified as the mastermind of the attacks by the only terrorist captured alive, Ajmal Kasab, or Qasab. The police official said two of Mr. Muzammil's deputies orchestrated the strikes, according to Mr. Kasab's testimony.

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A senior Pakistani official confirmed that India has told Pakistan that the attack was planned by Mr. Muzammil. Mr. Muzammil's name appears on a list of 20 people whom India is demanding that Pakistan hand over.

India also has told Pakistan that the attacks were approved by Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, the head of Jamaat ud Dawa, the parent organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba. Mr. Saeed denied the allegation that his group was involved. "India has always accused me without any evidence," Mr. Saeed said in an interview with GEO News, a private Pakistan Television channel.

According to Dipankar Banerjee, director of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, an independent think tank in New Delhi, Mr. Muzammil became head of Lashkar-e-Taiba's planning cell some three months ago, after the previous head was killed. He is a Pakistani in his mid-30s and is based in Pakistan.

The senior Pakistani official said Pakistan was examining the list of suspects and had assured India that action would be taken against them if evidence was available of their involvement in last week's attacks.

According to the official, India has claimed that Mr. Kasab's handlers were constantly sending messages to him, even when he was already captured. But "we can take action only when we have some more proof," he said.

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There is more.

The information that India is sending Pakistan is getting too specific to ignore. What this means is that the Pakistan masters of doing the minimum have shrinking wiggle room to avoid doing something concrete this time.

Bloomberg reports that President Zadari may find himself in conflict with his own military and intelligence agencies since many of these guys are their guys.