US intelligence agencies have determined that retired officers of the Pakistan army and Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency helped train the Islamic terrorists who attacked Mumbai.
The disclosure came as Washington yesterday sent the names of four former top officials of the ISI to the UN to be placed on a Security Council list of international terrorists.
Reports from Pakistan yesterday said the former ISI director-general Hamid Gul - appointed to the post when assassinated leader Benazir Bhutto was prime minister - had confirmed his name was included on the list the US had sent to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The US is calling on Pakistan to arrest and turn over to India at least some suspects in the Mumbai outrage, but Pakistan was unlikely to oblige amid escalating tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in New Delhi before travelling to Islamabad last night, pressed Pakistan to show "resolve and urgency" in finding those behind the assault.
A senior diplomat briefed on the US position said Washington was conveying a stronger and more specific message privately to Islamabad.
"The Indian Government is under a lot of pressure from their public for not doing more to prevent this attack ... and they need for their political purposes to point to something demonstratively that's been done," the diplomat told the Wall Street Journal. "An arrest by Pakistan is a big statement. Ideally there'd be some sort of extradition" to India.
But Pakistan has refused to hand over any of the 20 people demanded by India, citing a lack of an extradition treaty between the two nations.
India's Defence Minister,AK Antony, summoned army, navy and air force chiefs to an emergency meeting yesterday to warn them of intelligence showing that more terror attacks from the air and sea may be imminent.
At the same time, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee again stressed that all options - including a possible cross-border military strike - remained open against Pakistan.
The submission of the names of the former officers of Pakistan's premier intelligence agency and the claims of ISI and army involvement in training the Mumbai terrorists are not directly related, but fan the tension over allegations of Pakistani involvement - by commission or omission - in the events leading to the Mumbai massacre last week, which left at least 173 people dead.
Reports yesterday said the Pakistani Government regarded the US move to include ISI officers on the list of international terrorists as "part of an international conspiracy to target the ISI".
The ISI, described as "a state within a state", has long-standing ties to the al-Qa'ida-linked Lashkar-e-Toiba (Army of the Pious) militants accused of being behind the attack, and the relationship is believed to continue despite the installation of a democratic government in Islamabad.
General Gul, who the US wants placed on the UN terror list, is fiercely anti-American and an outspoken supporter of the Taliban. He served as director of military intelligence under former military dictator Zia ul-Haq and was appointed to the top job in the ISI when Bhutto was prime minister in 1989. Last year, he was named by her as one of those responsible for the first, unsuccessful, attempt to kill her when she arrived home in Karachi after years of exile abroad.
A former US Department of Defence official said yesterday that American intelligence agencies had determined that former officers from Pakistan's army and the ISI helped train the Mumbai attackers. The New York Times said the official added that "no specific links had been uncovered yet between the terrorists and the Pakistani Government".
But India's charge against Pakistan is not that the new Government was directly involved in the attack but that it has not clamped down on rogue elements in the ISI and the army.
The Indian Foreign Minister said yesterday there was no doubt the terrorists had come from, and were co-ordinated, by Pakistan.
"What action will be taken bythe Government will depend on the response we have from thePakistan authorities," Mr Mukherjee said.
He said he had told Dr Rice "that there is no doubt the terrorists were individuals who came from Pakistan and whose controllers are in Pakistan".
Dr Rice delivered some cautionary words to India, warning any response to the attacks "needs to be judged by its effectiveness in prevention and also by not creating other, unintended consequences or difficulties". India has denied rumours it was massing troops at the border.
The disclosure came as Washington yesterday sent the names of four former top officials of the ISI to the UN to be placed on a Security Council list of international terrorists.
Reports from Pakistan yesterday said the former ISI director-general Hamid Gul - appointed to the post when assassinated leader Benazir Bhutto was prime minister - had confirmed his name was included on the list the US had sent to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The US is calling on Pakistan to arrest and turn over to India at least some suspects in the Mumbai outrage, but Pakistan was unlikely to oblige amid escalating tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in New Delhi before travelling to Islamabad last night, pressed Pakistan to show "resolve and urgency" in finding those behind the assault.
A senior diplomat briefed on the US position said Washington was conveying a stronger and more specific message privately to Islamabad.
"The Indian Government is under a lot of pressure from their public for not doing more to prevent this attack ... and they need for their political purposes to point to something demonstratively that's been done," the diplomat told the Wall Street Journal. "An arrest by Pakistan is a big statement. Ideally there'd be some sort of extradition" to India.
But Pakistan has refused to hand over any of the 20 people demanded by India, citing a lack of an extradition treaty between the two nations.
India's Defence Minister,AK Antony, summoned army, navy and air force chiefs to an emergency meeting yesterday to warn them of intelligence showing that more terror attacks from the air and sea may be imminent.
At the same time, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee again stressed that all options - including a possible cross-border military strike - remained open against Pakistan.
The submission of the names of the former officers of Pakistan's premier intelligence agency and the claims of ISI and army involvement in training the Mumbai terrorists are not directly related, but fan the tension over allegations of Pakistani involvement - by commission or omission - in the events leading to the Mumbai massacre last week, which left at least 173 people dead.
Reports yesterday said the Pakistani Government regarded the US move to include ISI officers on the list of international terrorists as "part of an international conspiracy to target the ISI".
The ISI, described as "a state within a state", has long-standing ties to the al-Qa'ida-linked Lashkar-e-Toiba (Army of the Pious) militants accused of being behind the attack, and the relationship is believed to continue despite the installation of a democratic government in Islamabad.
General Gul, who the US wants placed on the UN terror list, is fiercely anti-American and an outspoken supporter of the Taliban. He served as director of military intelligence under former military dictator Zia ul-Haq and was appointed to the top job in the ISI when Bhutto was prime minister in 1989. Last year, he was named by her as one of those responsible for the first, unsuccessful, attempt to kill her when she arrived home in Karachi after years of exile abroad.
A former US Department of Defence official said yesterday that American intelligence agencies had determined that former officers from Pakistan's army and the ISI helped train the Mumbai attackers. The New York Times said the official added that "no specific links had been uncovered yet between the terrorists and the Pakistani Government".
But India's charge against Pakistan is not that the new Government was directly involved in the attack but that it has not clamped down on rogue elements in the ISI and the army.
The Indian Foreign Minister said yesterday there was no doubt the terrorists had come from, and were co-ordinated, by Pakistan.
"What action will be taken bythe Government will depend on the response we have from thePakistan authorities," Mr Mukherjee said.
He said he had told Dr Rice "that there is no doubt the terrorists were individuals who came from Pakistan and whose controllers are in Pakistan".
Dr Rice delivered some cautionary words to India, warning any response to the attacks "needs to be judged by its effectiveness in prevention and also by not creating other, unintended consequences or difficulties". India has denied rumours it was massing troops at the border.
Source: The Australian
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