India says Mumbai attacks suspect confirms Pakistan role

Indian home minister says Abu Hamza of LeT confirms Indian accusations that Pakistani state actors were involved.


Afp June 27, 2012

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: India's home minister on Wednesday said a key suspect in the 2008 Mumbai attacks had provided information confirming Pakistani "state support" for the deadly assault.

Abu Hamza, also known as Sayed Zabiuddin, an Indian-born member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was detained at Delhi international airport on June 21 when he arrived from the Middle East.

Indian police believe he was one of the handlers based in Karachi, who issued orders by telephone to 10 gunmen as they stormed two luxury hotels, a Jewish centre, a restaurant and a train station in Mumbai.

The November 2008 attacks, which India has blamed on Lashkar-e-Taiba, left 166 people dead and more than 300 wounded.

Home Minister P Chidambaram, speaking to reporters in the southern state of Kerala, said police interrogation of Hamza had confirmed Indian accusations that Pakistani state actors were also involved.

"The argument that non-state actors were behind the massacre is no longer valid. He has confirmed that he was in the control room (and) this has confirmed our suspicion that there was some organised effort," Chidambaram said.

"When I say, state actors, at the moment, I am not pointing my finger at any particular agency.

"But clearly there was state support or state actors' support for the 26/11 massacre," the home minister said.

Pakistan, which has firmly denied such allegations, has indicted seven people for their alleged role in the attacks. Their trial, which began in 2009, has been beset by delays.

The United States has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the conviction of Lashkar founder Hafiz Saeed who lives in Pakistan and is accused of masterminding the Mumbai attacks.

COMMENTS (103)

K B Kale | 11 years ago | Reply

@ayesha_khan: It is unfair to to say this to majority Muslim population of India, but the fact remains that though every Indian Muslim is not (at all) a terrorist, but every terrorist active in India (barring a few infinitesimally small percentage of non-Muslim terrorists) seems to be an Indian Muslim. That is why when Pakistan says that 26/11 terrorists had Indian supporters, we are not surprised but saddened by it. I hope this dismal picture changes for the better because I have so many Muslim friends in India who also abhor terrorism. It is unfortunate that a few misguided Indian Muslims are spoiling the good name of the rest of exceptionally good Indian Muslims! All of us Indians (literally) revere our ex-President APJ Abdul Kalam and other great Muslims like him!

ayesha_khan | 11 years ago | Reply

@Mr S: "So the mastermind was an Indian himself and lol look at this news"

Indian born NOT Indian. He was working for 3 years in Saudi Arabia with a Pakistani passport. It is on this basis that your COAS and PM had requested Saudi Arabia to stop deportation to India.

If he had no associations with the Pakistani agencies and was an Indian citizen on top of that, why did they try to stop his extradition?

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