Pakistan intelligence services 'aided Mumbai terror attacks'
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ISI WAS involved in Mumbai 26-11
Posted: Sep 27, 2010 Mon 01:19 am Views: 86 Interacts: 1
Washington: Less than a month after the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan's spy agency chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha had admitted before the CIA that the terror strikes had ISI links but claimed it was not an "authorised" operation and carried out by "rogue" elements, according to a new book.
However, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) later received reliable intelligence that the ISI was directly involved in the training for Mumbai, says the book entitled 'Obama's War' written by investigative American journalist Bob Woodward.
According to the book, the then President George W Bush during his meetings with his top aides had said that the terrorist attack on Mumbai was just like 9/11.
"President Bush called his national security team into the Oval Office as Mumbai sorted through the blood and rubble. You guys get planning and do what you have to do to prevent a war between Pakistan and India, Bush told his aides. The last thing we need right now is a war between two nuclear-power states," Woodward says in his book which hit the stands today.
Giving an insight into the thinking and actions of the Bush Administration during and immediately after the Mumbai attacks, Woodward writes that an "upset Bush asked his aides about contingency plans for dealing with Pakistan," given his policy of "zero tolerance" for terrorists and their enablers.
"This is like 9/11, he (Bush) said," Woodward wrote.
The United States military did not have 'war' plans for an invasion of Pakistan. Instead, it had and continues to have one of the most sensitive and secret of all military contingencies, what military officials call a 'retribution' plan in the event of another 9/11-like attack on the US by terrorists based in Pakistan," the book says.
Under this plan, the US would bomb or attack every known al Qaeda compound or training camp in the US intelligence database. "Some locations might be outdated, but there would be no concern, under the plan, for who might be living there now. The attribution plan called for a brutal punishing attack on at least 150 or more associated camps," Woodward says.
According to Woodward, within 48 hours of the Mumbai attack, the then CIA director Mike Hayden contacted Pakistan Ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqani.
"CIA intelligence showed no direct ISI links, Hayden told him. These are former people who are no longer employees of sthe Pakistani government," he wrote.
"Bush informed the Indians himself. He called Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, with whom he had a strong personal relationship. My intelligence shows that the new Pakistani government is not involved, Bush said. It looked like a war had been averted for the moment," Woodward writes.
"In a call to Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the head of the Pakistani ISI, Hayden said, "We've got to get to the bottom of this. This is a big deal'," the book says.
He urged Pasha to come clean and disclose all.
On the day after Christmas, Pasha flew to the United States, where he briefed Hayden at CIA headquarters, the author writes.
"Pasha admitted that the planners of the Mumbai attacks at least two retired Pakistani Army officers had ISI links, but this had not been an authorised ISI operation. It was rogue. There may have been people associated with my organisation who were associated with this," Pasha said.
"That's different from authority, direction and control," Pasha is quoted as saying by Woodward.
According to Woodward, Pasha provided details that fit with the picture developed by US intelligence.
"Hayden told Bush he was convinced it was not an official Pakistani-sponsored attack, but it highlighted the problem of the sanctuaries in Pakistan. The ease of the planning and execution, the low cost, and the alarming sophistication of the communications system that LeT had used were all troubling," he said.
The author says that the Mumbai terrorists spoke with handlers back in Pakistan with satellite phones that went through a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone service in New Jersey, making the calls difficult, if not impossible to trace and routed them in a way that also concealed the locations of those talking.
"The FBI was horrified by the low-cost, high-tech operation that had paralysed Mumbai. American cities were just as vulnerable. A senior FBI official responsible for thwarting similar attacks in the United States said, Mumbai changed everything," the book says.
In his book, Woodward writes that the open secret is that LeT was created and continues to be funded by the Pakistani ISI.
"The intelligence branch of the Pakistani military uses LeT to inflict pain and hardship on India, according to US intelligence. These gunmen had, quite possibly, committed an act of war," Woodward says.
Chowk: Personal: ISI WAS involved in Mumbai 26-11
I think this is a Pakistani article.
Posted: Sep 27, 2010 Mon 01:19 am Views: 86 Interacts: 1
Washington: Less than a month after the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan's spy agency chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha had admitted before the CIA that the terror strikes had ISI links but claimed it was not an "authorised" operation and carried out by "rogue" elements, according to a new book.
However, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) later received reliable intelligence that the ISI was directly involved in the training for Mumbai, says the book entitled 'Obama's War' written by investigative American journalist Bob Woodward.
According to the book, the then President George W Bush during his meetings with his top aides had said that the terrorist attack on Mumbai was just like 9/11.
"President Bush called his national security team into the Oval Office as Mumbai sorted through the blood and rubble. You guys get planning and do what you have to do to prevent a war between Pakistan and India, Bush told his aides. The last thing we need right now is a war between two nuclear-power states," Woodward says in his book which hit the stands today.
Giving an insight into the thinking and actions of the Bush Administration during and immediately after the Mumbai attacks, Woodward writes that an "upset Bush asked his aides about contingency plans for dealing with Pakistan," given his policy of "zero tolerance" for terrorists and their enablers.
"This is like 9/11, he (Bush) said," Woodward wrote.
The United States military did not have 'war' plans for an invasion of Pakistan. Instead, it had and continues to have one of the most sensitive and secret of all military contingencies, what military officials call a 'retribution' plan in the event of another 9/11-like attack on the US by terrorists based in Pakistan," the book says.
Under this plan, the US would bomb or attack every known al Qaeda compound or training camp in the US intelligence database. "Some locations might be outdated, but there would be no concern, under the plan, for who might be living there now. The attribution plan called for a brutal punishing attack on at least 150 or more associated camps," Woodward says.
According to Woodward, within 48 hours of the Mumbai attack, the then CIA director Mike Hayden contacted Pakistan Ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqani.
"CIA intelligence showed no direct ISI links, Hayden told him. These are former people who are no longer employees of sthe Pakistani government," he wrote.
"Bush informed the Indians himself. He called Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, with whom he had a strong personal relationship. My intelligence shows that the new Pakistani government is not involved, Bush said. It looked like a war had been averted for the moment," Woodward writes.
"In a call to Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the head of the Pakistani ISI, Hayden said, "We've got to get to the bottom of this. This is a big deal'," the book says.
He urged Pasha to come clean and disclose all.
On the day after Christmas, Pasha flew to the United States, where he briefed Hayden at CIA headquarters, the author writes.
"Pasha admitted that the planners of the Mumbai attacks at least two retired Pakistani Army officers had ISI links, but this had not been an authorised ISI operation. It was rogue. There may have been people associated with my organisation who were associated with this," Pasha said.
"That's different from authority, direction and control," Pasha is quoted as saying by Woodward.
According to Woodward, Pasha provided details that fit with the picture developed by US intelligence.
"Hayden told Bush he was convinced it was not an official Pakistani-sponsored attack, but it highlighted the problem of the sanctuaries in Pakistan. The ease of the planning and execution, the low cost, and the alarming sophistication of the communications system that LeT had used were all troubling," he said.
The author says that the Mumbai terrorists spoke with handlers back in Pakistan with satellite phones that went through a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone service in New Jersey, making the calls difficult, if not impossible to trace and routed them in a way that also concealed the locations of those talking.
"The FBI was horrified by the low-cost, high-tech operation that had paralysed Mumbai. American cities were just as vulnerable. A senior FBI official responsible for thwarting similar attacks in the United States said, Mumbai changed everything," the book says.
In his book, Woodward writes that the open secret is that LeT was created and continues to be funded by the Pakistani ISI.
"The intelligence branch of the Pakistani military uses LeT to inflict pain and hardship on India, according to US intelligence. These gunmen had, quite possibly, committed an act of war," Woodward says.
Chowk: Personal: ISI WAS involved in Mumbai 26-11
I think this is a Pakistani article.
This is also published in a prominent Pakistani Daily.
Pakistan's intelligence agency was deeply involved in planning the 2008 terror attack on Mumbai, going so far as to fund reconnaissance missions to the Indian city, according to a government report on the interrogation of a US citizen convicted in the attack.
The attack, blamed on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, killed 166 people, paralyzed India's business capital and froze peace efforts between Pakistan and India.
David Headley, who pleaded guilty in US federal court to laying the groundwork for the attack, told Indian interrogators in June that officers from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency were deeply intertwined with Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The spy agency provided handlers for all the top members of the group, gave them direction and provided their funding, Headley said, according to the government report on his June interrogation. The report, marked secret, was obtained by The Associated Press late Monday.
''According to Headley, every big action of LeT is done in close coordination with ISI,'' the report said, using a common abbreviation for Lashkar-e-Taiba.
India has long accused the Pakistan spy service of being involved with, and in some cases directing, terror groups.
In July, just weeks after the interrogation, Indian Home Secretary G.K. Pillai caused a ruckus ahead of high-level India-Pakistan talks when he accused the Pakistani spy agency of orchestrating the Mumbai attacks. Pillai cited Headley as the source of the information.
A senior intelligence official in Pakistan, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media on the record, said the allegations were baseless.
US officials have also accused the spy agency of working with the Taliban to coordinate attacks on Nato forces in Afghanistan.
In 34 hours of interrogation from June 3 to June 9, Headley described for Indian officials a Lashkar-e-Taiba organization that was filled with former Pakistani army officers and veterans from the conflicts with India over Kashmir, the report said.
At one Lashkar-e-Taiba training camp, Headley was drilled by a Pakistani army instructor, he said, according to the report.
Every major official with the group had a handler from the spy agency, most of them majors, colonels and even a brigadier, he told interrogators, according to the report.
The Indian report describes in detail Headley's involvement with his handler, whom he identified as Maj. Iqbal, throughout the preparations for the Mumbai attacks.
Iqbal first called Headley in March 2006, and the two of them met, along with Iqbal's superior, Lt. Col. Hamza, for more than two hours, according to the interrogation report. Hamza assigned Iqbal to be Headley's handler and assured him of financial backing.
Iqbal assigned Headley a trainer to drill him in intelligence basics, including how to cultivate sources and take cover, the report said.
Before Headley's first scouting trip to India in September 2006, Iqbal gave him $25,000. He later gave him a camera phone and showed him how to take surveillance videos, the report said.
Headley met with Iqbal in Pakistan after each of his nine trips to India, debriefed him and gave him copies of the photos and videos he took of potential Indian targets, the report said.
Iqbal gave Headley suggestions on how the Mumbai attackers could best reach the city by sea, and asked Headley to conduct some surveillance for him of an atomic research center in Mumbai and of locations in the city of Pune, the report said.
They also discussed a plan to attack a Danish newspaper over cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad.
On at least one occasion, Iqbal gave Headley counterfeit Indian currency to try to use on his trips, the report said.
That accusation would particularly irk India, which has grown increasingly worried about Pakistani smugglers bringing fake currency into India via neighboring Nepal.
In return for the cooperation, Iqbal helped Headley after he was taken into custody by the Lahore police on a complaint from one of his wives, the report said.
As the investigation into the Mumbai attacks heated up in 2009 and pressure on the Pakistani government to take action against the accused mounted, Iqbal told Headley they had to cut off contact, the report said.
Earlier this month, Interpol notified its members that India had issued an arrest warrant for Maj. Iqbal.AP
DAWN.COM | World | Pakistan spies tied to Mumbai siege: India
Pakistan's intelligence agency was deeply involved in planning the 2008 terror attack on Mumbai, going so far as to fund reconnaissance missions to the Indian city, according to a government report on the interrogation of a US citizen convicted in the attack.
The attack, blamed on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, killed 166 people, paralyzed India's business capital and froze peace efforts between Pakistan and India.
David Headley, who pleaded guilty in US federal court to laying the groundwork for the attack, told Indian interrogators in June that officers from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency were deeply intertwined with Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The spy agency provided handlers for all the top members of the group, gave them direction and provided their funding, Headley said, according to the government report on his June interrogation. The report, marked secret, was obtained by The Associated Press late Monday.
''According to Headley, every big action of LeT is done in close coordination with ISI,'' the report said, using a common abbreviation for Lashkar-e-Taiba.
India has long accused the Pakistan spy service of being involved with, and in some cases directing, terror groups.
In July, just weeks after the interrogation, Indian Home Secretary G.K. Pillai caused a ruckus ahead of high-level India-Pakistan talks when he accused the Pakistani spy agency of orchestrating the Mumbai attacks. Pillai cited Headley as the source of the information.
A senior intelligence official in Pakistan, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media on the record, said the allegations were baseless.
US officials have also accused the spy agency of working with the Taliban to coordinate attacks on Nato forces in Afghanistan.
In 34 hours of interrogation from June 3 to June 9, Headley described for Indian officials a Lashkar-e-Taiba organization that was filled with former Pakistani army officers and veterans from the conflicts with India over Kashmir, the report said.
At one Lashkar-e-Taiba training camp, Headley was drilled by a Pakistani army instructor, he said, according to the report.
Every major official with the group had a handler from the spy agency, most of them majors, colonels and even a brigadier, he told interrogators, according to the report.
The Indian report describes in detail Headley's involvement with his handler, whom he identified as Maj. Iqbal, throughout the preparations for the Mumbai attacks.
Iqbal first called Headley in March 2006, and the two of them met, along with Iqbal's superior, Lt. Col. Hamza, for more than two hours, according to the interrogation report. Hamza assigned Iqbal to be Headley's handler and assured him of financial backing.
Iqbal assigned Headley a trainer to drill him in intelligence basics, including how to cultivate sources and take cover, the report said.
Before Headley's first scouting trip to India in September 2006, Iqbal gave him $25,000. He later gave him a camera phone and showed him how to take surveillance videos, the report said.
Headley met with Iqbal in Pakistan after each of his nine trips to India, debriefed him and gave him copies of the photos and videos he took of potential Indian targets, the report said.
Iqbal gave Headley suggestions on how the Mumbai attackers could best reach the city by sea, and asked Headley to conduct some surveillance for him of an atomic research center in Mumbai and of locations in the city of Pune, the report said.
They also discussed a plan to attack a Danish newspaper over cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad.
On at least one occasion, Iqbal gave Headley counterfeit Indian currency to try to use on his trips, the report said.
That accusation would particularly irk India, which has grown increasingly worried about Pakistani smugglers bringing fake currency into India via neighboring Nepal.
In return for the cooperation, Iqbal helped Headley after he was taken into custody by the Lahore police on a complaint from one of his wives, the report said.
As the investigation into the Mumbai attacks heated up in 2009 and pressure on the Pakistani government to take action against the accused mounted, Iqbal told Headley they had to cut off contact, the report said.
Earlier this month, Interpol notified its members that India had issued an arrest warrant for Maj. Iqbal.AP
DAWN.COM | World | Pakistan spies tied to Mumbai siege: India
airuah
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If you go back and check the date and the ISI chief at that time you will come to know that so far ISI did not have any such chief who will aid a dumb attack like Mumbai
as far as my personal investg is concerned ISI was in the dark about it.
They did not know
personal investigation.....you are 24/7 on pdf and its still a mystry how you are managing journalism-coz you clearly the top most poster in this forum...and you claim of personal nvestigation when you are 24/7 on this forum.....???????????.....
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Some of these things claimed by Mr Headly does not seems to make sense.
1) I do not think intelligence chiefs will meet any tom dick and hary personally.
2) Why will they reveal their real identities, does not make sense.
So these articles are more of gossipe.
1) I do not think intelligence chiefs will meet any tom dick and hary personally.
2) Why will they reveal their real identities, does not make sense.
So these articles are more of gossipe.
This is really the part that infuriates me. If you reveal your identity to those who will carry out the attacks, you're giving yourself a big chance of getting caught. ISI operatives telling these guys that they're from ISI is a big joke.
Trisonics
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ISI did not have any such chief who will aid a dumb attack like Mumbai
as far as my personal investg is concerned ISI was in the dark about it.
They did not know
Looks like the news has touched a raw nerve. Why in your view is the Mumbai attack "dumb"? Killing may be an every day occurrence in your country but please don't insult Indians, people of other nationalities and families who lost their loved ones.
As far as your personal investigation is concerned you are just another anti-India key board warrior and yes, I believe your investigation, so overwhelmingly points to the truth that the world's opinion would turnaround with a stroke of a keyboard key. If indeed your investigation can clean the already tarnished image of the ISI, please do go public with it..You will do your country a lot of good!!!!
As a journalist you portray such ethics and standards that it is not surprising when people have certain views and opinions of your country!
Seriously, quite shameful!
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