The Latest From Leaky Mumbai
Video: Reports say that up to 15 people, representing various police, intelligence and military branches are sitting in on the questioning of Ajmal Amir Qasab, and they each seem to have a favorite Indian news outlet they like to talk to.
There is, of course, a good deal of spin in what is emerging, as all of the above seek to explain just how they failed to act on repeated, detailed warnings of pending attacks.
The Indians say Qasab has definitively linked the attacks to the banned Pakistan militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba. He has named an LET commander, Mohammed Muzzamil, a.k.a. Yusuf, a.k.a. Abu Guera, as the controller of the operation.
The AFP reports from Washington that the "U.S. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell late Tuesday blamed Lashkar-e-Taiba for the deadly attacks in Mumbai, the first time a U.S. official publicly fingered the group."
McConnell, however, did not directly reference LET, referring instead to previous attacks in India claimed by the group, including an attack on a train, and the siege of India's parliament.
Police have uncovered evidence that while the siege was under way Muzzimil was on the phone, remote-controlling the actions of the gunmen holed up in the two hotels and the Jewish community center. He's said to have used a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) telephone.
Indian intelligence, which does some fairly sophisticated interception work, is said to have recordings of the phone calls. With help from the FBI, they have traced the origin of the calls back to a computer in Lahore, Pakistan.
There's also more detail emerging of the preparation and planning that went the attack. Qasab has said they trained for months at a number of camps located in different regions of Pakistan. A senior Indian police official said "they underwent training in several phases, which included training in handling weapons, bomb making, survival strategies, survival in a marine environment and even dietary habits."
Little was left to chance. Not only did the terrorists arrive with bags of almonds to help sustain them through the hours of the siege, police say they used amphetamines to stay awake. One British newspaper, The Telegraph, goes further, and claims traces of cocaine, and even LSD were found in post-mortem examinations of the gunmen's bodies.
There were even language training classes, with hours spent reading Hindi language magazines and newspapers.
They were also equipped with fake Indian IDs, Indian telephone SIM cards (a local ID is required to purchase a SIM card in India), a GPS navigating device and a satellite phone. That phone was found left onboard the hijacked fishing boat the gunmen took over, and has provided valuable information, including phone numbers in Pakistan.
The Indian police insist the gunmen were entirely self-sufficient, with no local (i.e. Indian) accomplices. That does not account for their thorough knowledge of the confusing layout of both hotels (especially the kitchens, passageways and other back office areas not usually seen by guests), or for their ability to quickly navigate through central Mumbai. It's also not clear how only 10 gunmen could carry enough explosives and ammunition to keep the siege going for three days and nights.
With the evidence trail (surviving terrorist, intercepts, GPS tracks, emails, ordnance and other forensic evidence) leading in one clear direction, that question has to be for Pakistan. The LET may be banned (after U.S. pressure in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks), but it was created by Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI, as a useful tool in the Indo-Pak struggle over Kashmir.
Pakistan's government has repeatedly insisted that the ISI has broken its links to the terror group. But there is evidence that the intelligence service and the banned organization continue to have contacts, and LET is acknowledged to fundraise and hold large meetings throughout Pakistan.
Terrorism and Security expert Michael Clarke, the head of the Royal United Services Institute in London, told CBS News that he doesn't think the lame-duck administration of President Bush can be effective at mediating between India and Pakistan as it has in the past, and there continues to be a real risk of an escalating crisis.