Terrorists posed as Malaysian students

[In this Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008, file photo, a gunman walks at the Chatrapathi Sivaji Terminal railway station in Mumbai, India. Teams of gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, hospitals and a crowded train station in coordinated attacks across India's financial capital,taking Westerners hostage and leaving parts of the city under siege. - AP pic]

MUMBAI, Nov 30 - A sensational revelation has emerged from a terrorist caught alive by Indian troops: The attack on Mumbai's top hotels was meant to be India's Sept 11.

Azam Amir Kasav - some reports have his name as Ajmal Amir Kasab - confessed that part of the plot called for him and his fellow terrorists to carry out a replay of the destruction of Islamabad's Marriott Hotel, in targeting Mumbai's Taj Mahal Hotel.

The Marriott was blown up by militants in September, an attack that killed more than 50 people.

According to a report in The Times of India, Azam said the attacks on the Taj and The Oberoi Trident were aimed to create a "Sept 11 in India", a reference to the coordinated attacks by Al-Qaeda on the United States in 2001. They involved the crashing of hijacked planes into the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon that left nearly 3,000 people dead.

The confessions of the clean-shaven, fluent English-speaking 21-year-old Pakistani have given investigators a clearer picture of what had happened last Wednesday.

Azam said he was member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, but the Kashmir- based Pakistani militant group has denied any role in the attacks.

Founded as a guerilla group to fight the Indian army in Kashmir, the group was banned by the Pakistani government after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks, but reportedly continues to enjoy the backing of some Pakistani politicians and security officials.

A native of Faridkot in Pakistan- occupied Kashmir, Azam revealed the names of his fellow terrorists, all Pakistani citizens: Abu Ali, Fahad, Omar, Shoaib, Umer, Abu Akasha, Ismail, Abdul Rahman (Bara) and Abdul Rahman (Chhota).

But the 10 men were apparently not the only ones directly involved: Another group, he claimed, had checked themselves into hotels four days before, waiting with weapons and ammunition they had stockpiled in the rooms.

The 10 men in Azam's group were chosen well: All were trained in marine warfare and had undergone a special course conducted by the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Preparations were also detailed, and started early.

Azam and eight others in the team made a reconnaissance trip to Mumbai several months before the attacks, pretending to be Malaysian students. They rented an apartment at Colaba market, near one of their targets, the Nariman House.

The chief planner of the attacks also visited Mumbai a month before to take photographs and film strategic locations, including the hotel layouts.

Returning to Pakistan, the chief plotter trained the group, telling them to 'kill till the last breath'.

Surprisingly, the men did not expect themselves to be suicide terrorists. Azam said they had originally planned to sail back on Thursday - the recruiters had even charted out a return route, stored on a GPS device.

On the evening of Nov 21, Azam's group set off from an isolated creek in Karachi in a boat. The next day, a large Pakistani vessel with four Pakistanis and crew picked them up, whereupon the group was issued arms and ammunition.

Each man in the assault team was handed six to seven magazines of 50 bullets each, eight hand grenades, one AK-47 assault rifle, an automatic loading revolver, credit cards and a supply of dried fruit. They were, as some media put it, in for the long haul.

A day later, the team came across an Indian-owned trawler, Kuber, which they boarded. They killed four of the fishermen onboard, dumped their bodies into the sea, and forced its skipper Amarjit Singh to sail for India.

The next day, they beheaded the skipper, and one of the gunmen, a trained sailor, took the wheel and headed for the shores of Gujarat, India.

Near Gujarat, the terrorists raised a white flag as two officers of the coast guard approached.

While the officers questioned them, one of the terrorists grappled with one of them, slit his throat and threw his body into the boat. The group then ordered the other officer to help them get to Mumbai.

On Nov 26, the team reached the Mumbai coast.

Four nautical miles out, they were met by three inflatable speedboats. They killed the other coast guard officer, transferred into the speedboats and proceeded to Colaba jetty as dusk settled.

The Kuber was found later with the body of the 30-year-old captain onboard.

At Badhwar Park in Cuffe Parade - just three blocks away from Nariman House - the 10 men got off, stripped off the orange windbreakers they had been wearing and made sure to take out their large, heavy backpacks.

It was there that they were spotted by fisherman Prasan Dhanur, who was preparing his boat, and harbour official Kashinath Patil, 72, who was on duty nearby.

"Where are you going?" Patil asked them. "What's in your bags?"

The men replied: "We don't want any attention. Don't bother us."

Thinking little of it, Dhanur and Patil, who said they did not see the guns hidden in the backpacks, did not call the police, and watched the 10 young men walk away.

Then the carnage started.

On hitting the ground, the 10 men broke up.

Four men headed for the Taj Mahal Hotel, two for The Oberoi Trident, two for Nariman House and two - Azam and Ismail - for the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus by taxi.

At the railway station, Azam and his colleague opened fire, targeting Caucasian tourists while trying to spare Muslims.

The two gunmen also destroyed the CCTV control room, throwing grenades into it.

It was here that Azam was photographed, dressed in light-grey combat trousers and sneakers, a rucksack on his back, toting his AK-47.

According to one security expert, the way he carried the assault rifle revealed months of training.

The two men left the main hall of the railway station littered with bodies and pools of blood, then moved on to Metro Cinema and then to the Girgaum Chowpatty area in a stolen Skoda.

It was there that their plans started to unravel.

At the Girgaum Chowpatty area, Azam and Ismail were intercepted by anti-terror troops from the Gamdevi police station, and they ended up trading shots.

Azam managed to shoot dead assistant police inspector Tukaram Umbale, while one of them also gunned down anti-terror squad chief Hemant Karkare.

Ismail, however, was eventually killed, while Azam himself was shot in the hand. Pretending to be dead, he fell, and the two men were taken to Nair Hospital.

But police soon spotted him breathing and quickly evacuated the hospital's casualty ward, and brought in the anti-terror squad to interrogate him.

At first, Azam remained tight-lipped, but the sight of Ismail's mutilated body broke his resolve.

Pleading with medical staff to save his life, he said: "I do not want to die. Please put me on saline."

The bullet in his hand was removed, and after his condition had stabilised, Azam was moved to another location on Thursday for more interrogation.

Reports, however, say that the grilling at the hospital had been so intense that at one point, he pleaded with the police and medical staff to kill him.

He said: "Now, I don't want to live." - The Straits Times

Jihadi Terror in Mumbai

Written by Anand Kumar
Friday, 28 November 2008

Driving a further wedge between India and Pakistan

The 25-odd attackers who strew death, terror and chaos in India’s financial capital of Mumbai Wednesday are believed to have been dropped onto speedboats from ships in the Arabian Sea, officials say, going after Americans, Britons and Jews. The attackers, identified as Pakistanis, are either an Al Qaeda-allied group, officials say, or sent by Pakistan’s notorious Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI.

As a weapon to kill any possible rapprochement between Indian and Pakistan, the attackers, whoever they were, couldn't have done much better. In addition, the attacks seem almost certain to fuel the already distressing rise of communalism in India and make the country's 150-odd million Muslims a target. (See Asia Sentinel: Nov. 11, The Rise of India's Saffro-Nazis)

An Indian soldier runs to take cover in front of the Taj Mahal hotel as Indian troops and militants battle in Mumbai, India, yesterday. Teams of gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, hospitals and a crowded train station in coordinated attacks across India's financial capital, taking Westerners hostage and leaving parts of the city under siege. - AP pic

Indian commandoes Friday were scouring three luxury hotels room by room Friday in the aftermath of attacks that have left more than 125 people dead and nearly 350 injured, including almost all the top leaders of the Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). Among the dead is ATS Chief Hemant Karkare.

Video footage captured by CCTV cameras indicates that all the attackers, clad in T-shirts and khakis, were highly trained and were heavily armed. So far 10 have been killed, with one taken alive. The arrested terrorist has been traced to Faridpur in Pakistan. One of the three speedboats seized by police was heavily laden with explosives.

After reaching Colaba fishing harbor, the attackers scattered in small groups and moved towards different targets. They targeted the city’s three prominent hotels, hospital, railway station and most importantly Nariman House, an office building that houses a Jewish center. Though the terrorists were indiscriminate in their killing, in Hotel Taj Mahal, (photo right) one of Mumbai’s most famous landmarks, they asked for British and American passport holders.

A hitherto unheard-of group calling itself "Deccan Mujahedeen" took responsibility for the attack, which is dramatically different from the anonymous bombings of the past. Previously bombs were surreptitiously planted in different localities, with attackers choosing softer targets and unsuspecting victims. But this time the attackers, armed to the teeth, were essentially on a suicide mission. The operation involved a large number of gunmen and was carefully and professionally planned. Officials said the attackers were familiar with the layout of all of the hotels and other buildings they invaded.

The attack served many objectives, creating terror in the country as well as heightening the tension between India and Pakistan and if possible creating war hysteria. They also wanted to take revenge on Britain and the United States, the main players in the War on Terror, by taking their citizens hostage or by killing them.

Although the detention of two ships in the Arabian Sea gives further credence to the involvement of Pakistan, along with the satellite phones captured from the attackers, it is possible that the Pakistani government may not be directly involved. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari earlier this week offered an olive branch to India, seeking to decrease tensions between the two countries.

In separate messages, Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani deplored the Mumbai attacks although Pakistan’s condemnation has started looking hollow as more and more evidence pointing towards that country’s involvement although the jihadi groups and Pakistan’s notorious Director for Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI are almost outside its control. These attacks have managed to embarrass the Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi who was in India to "build bridges."

Certainly, the attacks could not have come at a worse time for the Manmohan Singh-led government, which already is facing severe criticism for its weak handling of terror. Indians both at home and abroad are outraged. The attacks are being termed India’s 9/11 and the government is under severe pressure for a response.

Speculation on the motive and source of the attacks varies. Indian officials have a tendency to blame the ISI for any attack that takes place on Indian soil. That doesn’t mean, however, that they didn’t have something to do with this one. The attacks took place immediately after the agency’s political wing was ordered disbanded by Zardari. US officials have been pressuring Pakistan to do something about the powerful spy agency since they concluded that the ISI was involved in a July 7 bombing of India’s embassy in Kabul.

Indian officials say the ISI might have hoped the attack would destabilize the civilian government in Pakistan and give the organization a chance to regain lost ground. Others say the restrictions placed on the ISI are hardly effective and in an earlier case when the government tried to bring the agency under the Interior Ministry the decision was almost immediately reversed.

It is also suggested that al-Qaeda or allied groups might be involved in a bid to do something spectacular to boost sagging morale after the organization lost some of its top leaders in recent US attacks. Another possibility is that successful elections in Kashmir, where voter turnout has been nearly 65 percent might have made the jihadi forces.These attacks might also have been launched with the objective of sabotaging the ongoing election process in several Indian states.

Whatever the motive, the Mumbai attacks are likely to have serious implications for India, affecting the trade and business environment. They forced closure of the country’s stock and commodity exchanges and drove up its risk premium in international credit markets. Foreign investors have already withdrawn about US$13.5 billion from the Indian stock market this year. Coming at a time, when foreign investors have been selling Indian assets, the attacks raised fears of a steeper fall in the rupee and a further blow to market confidence.

Clearly it will be negative for the sentiment at a time when the world is already looking to be highly uncertain in terms of growth prospects. The global recession is likely to bring down India’s annual gross domestic product growth rate to 7.5 percent. The attacks may well worsen the situation, particularly affecting tourism as the terrorists have attacked three major and very popular hotels of Mumbai.

India’s Commerce minister, Kamal Nath says that there is no economic component to these attacks. But the business community is far from convinced. The attacks have rattled the business community, which is now demanding tougher laws along with "stronger and firmer" leadership to tackle terrorism. Industry leaders, including heads of the apex chambers, feel the country needs to be on a high alert since their institutions are becoming vulnerable.

Though Mumbai has bounced back after earlier attacks the industry leaders are of the view that the latest attacks are different from the earlier ones and the city might take time to adjust.

Police practising selective persecution: Malaysian Bar

By Elizabeth Looi

elizabethlooi@thenutgraph.com
24 Nov 08 : 8.02PM

PETALING JAYA, 24 Nov 2008: The police acted unjustly when they detained one group for illegally gathering in public but did not arrest another, said the Malaysian Bar.

Bar president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan said both groups were exercising their right to freedom of assembly as enshrined in the Federal Constitution.

One assembly was held to protest against the Internal Security Act (ISA), while the other, which apparently marched from Wisma Sejarah to the Tun Razak police station in Kuala Lumpur, was to support the act.

"However, only one group was targeted, namely the anti-ISA group. We are alarmed that nine people from the group were arrested.

"The use of police force against only one group is selected persecution," Ambiga said in a statement.

She was commenting on the arrests of nine people at the gathering of the Abolish ISA Coalition (GMI) on 23 Nov in Ampang. Among those arrested included PAS vice-president Mohammad Sabu.

Ambiga called on the authorities to even-handedly protect and uphold the rights of all citizens to assemble peacefully to express their opinions.

DAP Member of Parliament for Klang Charles Santiago also said the police had practised double standards when they stood guard for the 500 people who demonstrated on 23 Nov to support the use of the ISA.

"While the police are quick to arrest opposition politicians, human rights workers, and members of the civil society [who take part in demonstrations], they act as protectors during street protests organised by ruling parties and groups which support the government.

"This is blatant double standard," he said in a statement.

Santiago added that the arrests reflect the highhandedness of the police force, abuse of power, and non-tolerance of dissent by the government.

He also called on the police to stop attacking members of the media as he was told that they were shoved and shouted at during the ISA gathering in Ampang.

Shuttle Endeavour links with space station

By MARCIA DUNN – 2 hours ago

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Space shuttle Endeavour linked with the international space station on Sunday, kicking off a huge home makeover that will allow twice as many astronauts to live up there beginning next year.

In this photo (left) released by NASA, Astronaut Steve Bowen, STS-126 mission specialist, prepares to use a camera on the middeck of Space Shuttle Endeavour during post launch activities on Friday Nov. 14, 2008. (AP Photo/NASA)

Commander Christopher Ferguson guided the shuttle to a smooth docking as the two spacecraft soared 212 miles above India. His ship's radar worked just fine, despite earlier trouble with the antenna.

Image above: The STS-126 and Expedition 18 crews greet each other.
Photo credit: NASA TV

"We understand that this house is in need of an extreme makeover and that you're the crew to do it," the space station's skipper, Mike Fincke, said as he welcomed the seven shuttle astronauts aboard.

In this photo (left) released by NASA, astronaut Chris Ferguson, STS-126 commander is seen in the commander's station on the flight deck of Space Shuttle Endeavour during post launch activities on Friday Nov. 14, 2008. (AP Photo/NASA)

His crewmate, Gregory Chamitoff, was especially excited to see Endeavour. He's been living on the space station for almost six months, and the shuttle is his ride home.

"Wow," Chamitoff exclaimed. "You look beautiful ... I am smiling from ear to ear."

Earlier in the afternoon, before Endeavour began its final approach from eight miles out, Fincke and his crew captured striking video of it and the moon, which was also prominent in many of the launch-night photos.

"It's a big day here today," Fincke said.

Once Endeavour closed to within several hundred feet, Ferguson guided it through a 360-degree backflip so Fincke and Chamitoff could take zoom-in photos of all its thermal shielding. About 200 digital images will help NASA determine whether Endeavour sustained any damage during liftoff Friday night. Fincke said he noticed nothing amiss.

In this photo (left) released by NASA shows Astronaut Eric Boe, STS-126 pilot, gives a thumbs up as he sits in the pilot's station on the flight deck of Space Shuttle Endeavour during post launch activities on Friday Nov. 14, 2008. The first-time space traveler has been flying for the Air Force since the late 1980s, (AP Photo/NASA)

Only one piece of debris has been spotted so far in launch pictures. It was probably ice and did not strike Endeavour, said LeRoy Cain, chairman of the mission management team. Flight controllers initially thought it might be one of the shuttle's thermal blankets.

NASA officials were delighted with how everything was going.

"The team down here on the Planet Earth wanted to compliment you on a well-done, very nicely done rendezvous and docking," Mission Control radioed up.

The first priority for the 10 astronauts was a crew member swap.

Astronaut Sandra Magnus moved into the space station for a 3 1/2-month stay, replacing Chamitoff. The two greeted each other with a bear hug. "Welcome to your new home," Fincke told her.

As soon as everyone embraced, Fincke declared: "On to work. Man, this place just got smaller."

Besides Magnus, Endeavour was delivering thousands of pounds of home improvement gear: an extra bathroom, kitchenette and exercise machine, two more sleeping compartments, and a fancy new recycling system for converting urine and condensation into drinking water.

In this photo (left) released by NASA, astronauts Shane Kimbrough, right, and Sandra Magnus, both STS-126 mission specialists, work with their shuttle launch and entry suits on the middeck of Space Shuttle Endeavour during post launch activities on Friday Nov. 14, 2008. (AP Photo/NASA)

NASA cannot double the size of the space station crew — currently at three — until all the new equipment is installed, checked out and working properly. The goal is to have six people living permanently on the orbiting outpost by June.

Most of the new stuff is inside a giant cylinder that Endeavour's astronauts will attach to the space station on Monday.

Endeavour and its crew will spend almost two weeks at the space station, a little longer than usual. Four spacewalks will be carried out beginning Tuesday, primarily to clean and lubricate a solar wing-rotating joint that broke down more than a year ago. It's clogged with metal shavings from grinding parts.