Six suspected 'masterminds' of 26/11 at large in Pak: Report

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Nov 15 (PTI) At least six suspected
"masterminds" of the Mumbai attacks are still at large in
Pakistan and there is mounting evidence of ISI's strong links
to the 2008 strikes, an investigative report said on Monday.
"The evidence against at least half a dozen suspected
masterminds of Mumbai who are still at large includes (David)
Headley's statements implicating officers in Pakistan's ISI
along with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)," the report quoted officials
as saying.
"There are also physical clues," wrote investigative
reporter Sebastian Rotella in the report jointly published in
The Washington Post and ProPublica.com.
The Mumbai case could put Washington and Islamabad on a
collision course, the report said, amid Pakistan's
unwillingness to take firm action against those responsible
for the attacks that killed 166 people, including six
Americans.
US Attorney General Eric H Holder Jr has vowed to
prosecute the killings of the six Americans as required by the
law.
The prosecutions of the Mumbai and Denmark plots are
being led by US Attorney Patrick J Fitzgerald in Chicago. But
it is unlikely Pakistan would extradite the suspects to the
United States, officials said.
And Pakistani courts tend not to convict accused
radical Islamists, the report said.
The FBI has identified a phone number that is believed
to connect Sajid Mir, a suspected Mumbai attacks mastermind;
David Headley and Pakistani intelligence officials.
Headley called Pakistani military officers at the
number while working for LeT; the number was also called by an
accused ISI spy who went on a secret mission with Mir in
India in 2005, the report said citing investigators.
The Pakistani government denies any official link to the
2008 attacks.
However, Rotella said that the question of Pakistani
government's involvement drives a high-stakes debate.
Some Western anti-terrorism officials think that, at
most, Pakistani officials provided limited state support for
the Mumbai attacks. (More) PTI LKJ
HMI


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