Between Zardari and the ISI.
From “Mumbai: Islamist Terror’s New Modus Operandi,” by Olivier Guitta in Middle East Times, December 1:
[…] First, regarding the perpetrators, all the signs point to the involvement of the Pakistani terror group and al-Qaida affiliate Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). LeT is in fact a group propped up by Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and mostly focusing until now on the “liberation” of the Kashmir province.
As early as Thursday, Russian intelligence stated that LeT, a group that underwent special training in al-Qaida camps at the India-Pakistan border, were behind the attacks.
On Friday U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials confirmed that assessment. And just on Sunday, the only terrorist captured by Indian police said that indeed LeT was behind the bloody attacks.
Even if the operation had been prepared for a long time, the timing might not be coincidental. A week ago Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari went on a limb to advance peace with India. He declared that Pakistan would never be the first to use the atomic bomb against India and more importantly talking about Kashmir, he called the rebels “terrorists:” a first for a Pakistani president.
Reportedly some inside the ISI were very upset by this statement and by the possible rapprochement with India. What better way to kill these efforts than by pulling off a large terror operation in Mumbai? Also incidentally on Nov. 26, an important alleged LeT operative was arrested in Britain.
Read it all.