MOSCOW, November 27 (RIA Novosti) - The terrorist groups who attacked the Indian city of Mumbai are closely linked to al-Qaeda, a high-ranking Russian secret service source said Thursday. "Russian secret services have information suggesting that the groups that attacked Mumbai had had contact with al-Qaeda," the source said. "In particular, the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba. This group's militants undergo special training in al-Qaeda camps on the border between Pakistan and India." The source also said that the Indian authorities had earlier considered the group an ordinary "criminal" gang. He also said that Russian secret services had not so far received any request to assist their Indian colleagues in the investigation into the attacks.
MOSCOW, November 27 (RIA Novosti) - The terrorist groups who attacked the Indian city of Mumbai are closely linked to al-Qaeda, a high-ranking Russian secret service source said Thursday.
"Russian secret services have information suggesting that the groups that attacked Mumbai had had contact with al-Qaeda," the source said. "In particular, the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba. This group's militants undergo special training in al-Qaeda camps on the border between Pakistan and India."
The source also said that the Indian authorities had earlier considered the group an ordinary "criminal" gang.
He also said that Russian secret services had not so far received any request to assist their Indian colleagues in the investigation into the attacks.
Indian security authorities, however, believe the group is actually a front for the Muslim terrorist organization Lashkar a-Tayeb ("army of believers"), established in 1989 by Pakistani intelligence. This assessment is based partly on the interrogation of nine members who were arrested. They revealed that 60 to 70 terrorists, some of whom came to Mumbai by boat, carried out the current attacks. Weapons and a stash of grenades were found in one of the boats after its passengers came ashore. Pakistani intelligence founded, aided and cultivated this and other militant organizations as part of its battle against India in the contested region of Kashmir. It was only in 2003, after 9/11 and under heavy pressure from India and the United States, that the organization and similar ones were outlawed in Pakistan. Experts believe the main goal of Lashkar a-Tayeb is to destabilize India by damaging its economy and its fragile ethnic mix while fomenting dissent among India's large Muslim minority.
This assessment is based partly on the interrogation of nine members who were arrested. They revealed that 60 to 70 terrorists, some of whom came to Mumbai by boat, carried out the current attacks. Weapons and a stash of grenades were found in one of the boats after its passengers came ashore.
Pakistani intelligence founded, aided and cultivated this and other militant organizations as part of its battle against India in the contested region of Kashmir. It was only in 2003, after 9/11 and under heavy pressure from India and the United States, that the organization and similar ones were outlawed in Pakistan.
Experts believe the main goal of Lashkar a-Tayeb is to destabilize India by damaging its economy and its fragile ethnic mix while fomenting dissent among India's large Muslim minority.
