India warned US of "white faces" in Pak terror camps

Washington, Feb 3 (PTI) Some five months before the 26/11
Mumbai terrorist attack, India had warned the US about
increasing "white faces" in terrorist camps along Pak-Afghan
border and the attempt by jihadi groups to acquire fissile
material to "fabricate a crude bomb beyond a dirty bomb".
According to a US diplomatic cable dated May 30, 2008,
released by WikiLeaks the then Indian National Security
Advisor M K Narayanan had said this during a meeting with the
visiting American Senators Russ Feingold and Bob Casey in New
Delhi.
According to the cable, Narayanan told the Senators that
the US-India relationship amounts to much more than just trade
links and defence deals, but rather benefits from a mutual
empathy.
Asked about terrorism, Narayanan related that training
camps on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border have attracted more
"white faces".
"He also noted jihadi groups have attempted to acquire
fissile material and have the technical competence to
manufacture an explosive device beyond a mere dirty bomb," the
cable said.
Narayanan lamented that national intelligence agencies
lack a common understanding at a time when an incident such as
the 2006 blasts in western Indian city Mumbai involved
planning and fundraising in up to 11 different countries, it
said.
Regarding the May 13 blasts in northern Indian state
Jaipur, Narayanan divulged that India has narrowed the
suspects to the Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami (HUJI).
According to the cable, Narayanan also observed that the
US no longer ignores terrorist attacks that occur in India
because it has adopted a more "cooperative angle" to face this
common threat.
"He related that Indian intelligence has detected
various targets, including southern and northeast Europe,
Somalia and the Middle East, but not the US. Non-state actors
will intensify their asymmetric warfare, he predicted, and
pointed to the increase in 'white recruits' detected by Indian
intelligence in terrorist training camps along the Pakistan-Afghanistan borders," the cable said.
"Those recruits will not be used against India or Asian
nations," he pointed out, adding that he has warned his
counterparts of the development.
He also related that India has found a "manifest attempt
to get fissile material," though terrorist groups have not yet
acquired any.
However, he warned, they have "enough physics to fabricate
a crude bomb beyond a dirty bomb." the cable said.
Narayanan perceived the lack of "adequate understanding"
among intelligence agencies as the greatest weakness in the
war on terror.