Mumbai: a taste of things to come, internationally? “Group blamed for Mumbai attack also operating in Mideast,” by Jonathan S. Landay for McClatchy Newspapers, December 10 (thanks to JCB):
WASHINGTON “” A United Nations Security Council committee put three Pakistani leaders of the group Lashkar-e- Taiba and a Saudi operative on a terrorist watch list Wednesday as new evidence surfaced that the group blamed for the Mumbai attacks has expanded its activities and its fundraising well beyond South Asia .
A U.N. document obtained by McClatchy said that LeT has sent operatives to attack U.S. troops in Iraq , established a branch in Saudi Arabia and been raising funds in Europe . The group may also have received money from al Qaida, suggesting that it has close ties with Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network based along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan , the document said.
Although Pakistan’s government outlawed LeT in May 2002 , it “continues to operate and engage in or support terrorist activities abroad,” the document said.
“Is there real concern about Lashkar trying to expand its footprint? The answer is yes,” said a U.S. counterterrorism official in response to questions about the document, which the U.N. committee reviewed before voting to add the four to the watch list. He requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly…