Intercepts of terrorist communications tie Pakistan to killings

Independent:

Pakistan has bowed to weeks of international pressure and admitted that the sole surviving militant responsible for the terror attacks in Mumbai is one of its citizens.

In what could prove to be a crucial move in easing tensions between the south Asian neighbours, a government minister last night confirmed that Ajmal Kasab was from Pakistan. The concession came as details emerged of the contents of the dossier that India presented to Pakistan this week.

The evidence included detailed transcripts of conversations between the militants and their handlers, allegedly based in Pakistan. The transcripts clearly suggest that the handlers, said by India to be senior members of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant group, controlled almost every move of the militants and directed their actions, both in response to the hostages they had seized and to the Indian commandos trying to end the carnage.

An intercept of a conversation published in The Hindu newspaper offers an insight into how much the remote handlers were directing events at the Oberoi Trident hotel, offering instructions on maximising the terror. "Everything is being recorded by the media. Inflict the maximum damage. Keep fighting. Don't be taken alive," said one handler at 3.53am on 27 November. Another interjects: "Kill all the hostages, except the two Muslims," before adding: "Keep your phone switched on so that we can hear the gunfire."

The 69-page dossier is the most comprehensive insight yet into the planning behind the November attacks that left about 170 people dead. It includes details of how the militants obtained Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) numbers that allowed the handlers to call the 10 gunmen while seeking to hide their location. There were also photographs of items recovered in the investigations launched after the attacks, including GPS units, mobile phones, guns, explosives and data from satellite phones the militants had left behind.

The dossier contained considerable information from the interrogation of Kasab, 21, from Pakistan's Punjab province, who has been held by the police in Mumbai since the attacks. "We are confirming that Kasab is a Pakistani citizen but I cannot say a word more [on this]," said the Pakistani Information Minister, Sherry Rehman.

The confirmation by the authorities in Islamabad came just two days after the Pakistan high commissioner in Delhi was presented with the dossier of evidence, which was also shared with the governments of 14 countries who lost citizens in the attacks and other allies.

Yet the decision has almost certainly been taken for political reasons rather than being based on any new evidence presented to Pakistan. Ever since India revealed Kasab's identity in the aftermath of the attacks, officials from the ISI intelligence agency have been carrying out their own investigation and are believed to have questioned the surviving militant's parents.

Rather, it appears the government decided to act in the face of mounting international pressure. It is probably no coincidence that the US Vice President-elect Joe Biden is due to arrive in Pakistan later this week, carrying with him the weight and influence of the incoming US administration.

"I think they had no choice because their credibility was getting worse day by day by being in a state of denial," said Talat Masood, a retired Pakistani general turned political analyst. "As pressure built up from India, the US and the UK, they had to accept the fact. It's a shame really that they waited so long. If they had done so immediately, it would have helped Pakistan's image."

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Transcripts of the conversations are included and this excerpt gives some of the flavor, "Pakistan caller 1: Kill all hostages, except the two Muslims. Keep your phone switched on so that we can hear the gunfire."

No wonder Sec. Rice was so confident that people in Pakistan were involved.

Something else that should be noted--if India followed the Democrats' policy on the intercepts of enemy communications they would never have been able to get these conversations recorded. It is just more evidence of how misguided the terrorist rights approach of the Democrats is.