US DESTINY Hits India as Mumbai is Attacked Once again. War against Terrorism and Strategic Re alliance Opens the Doors of US Intervention as well as DISINTEGRATION Soviet Style. The ENCOUNTER Wipes out Malegaon Investigation ATS Team.
Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 112
Palash Biswas
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Is coastline the new route for terrorist?
Economic Times - 2 hours ago - NEW DELHI: The Mumbai mayhem is arguably the nation's first brush with ma-rine jihadis. With the Centre confirming ...
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Family in Israel prays for relatives held hostage at Nariman House
Times of India - 6 hours ago - 27 Nov 2008, 1622 hrs IST, PTI JERUSALEM: Anxiously waiting to hear about the well-being of their dear ones taken ...
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Mumbai Under Seige: How the events unfolded
CNN-IBN
The attacks begin at about 9.30 pm with firing at Cafe Leopold, a popular restaurant in the Colaba area of South Mumbai. This is a place frequented by foreigners.
Shortly after, at least two men armed with AK-47s open fire in the passenger hall of CST railway station. They also lob grenades. At least 30 people are injured. Commandos are rushed to the station.
Meanwhile, at least four to five people are killed at Cama hospital, situated close to CST. Some patients are taken hostage.
A major gun battle also breaks out near the Metro cinema, just down the road. Terrorists hijack a police van and fire indiscriminately, injuring several people.
Several hotels also come under attack. Armed men enter the Taj Mahal Hotel and take hostages. A series of loud explosions is heard. Three Members of Parliament and at least 100 tourists are stranded inside. The Anti Terrorism Squad enters the hotel to flush out terrorists. Eventually, the hotel goes up in flames.
Blasts at the Oberoi hotel (now called the Trident) at Nariman point. Several people are taken hostage, and some parts of the hotel catch fire. The army is called in to flush out the militants.
Maharasthra ATS Chief Hemant Karkare is shot dead during the encounter outside the Taj Hotel. IPS officer Ashok Kamte is killed in the gunbattle at Metro Cinema. Encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar is also gunned down.
Reports also of an attack at the Marriott hotel in Juhu.
A blast is also reported in a taxi under a flyover in suburban Vile Parle. Another bomb goes off in a taxi in Mazegaon dockyard road.
Two terrorists are gunned down by police in Girgaum while they were on the run in a Skoda vehicle.
A little known outfit the 'Deccan Mujahideen' has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
All schools and colleges in the city are to be shut on Thursday.
Published on Thu, Nov 27, 2008 at 18:14 in Nation section
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/mumbai-under-seige-how-the-events-unfolded/79196-3.html
Globalization ( barry.mov ) The War On Terror
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=4qVNpbT24hc
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The Globalization
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Hidden Face of Globalization
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Globalization: What Does It Really Mean?
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What Is Globalization? - Noam Chomsky
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Noam Chomsky - America is not a Democracy
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Noam Chomsky On Corporate Propaganda
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The Myth of the Liberal Media: The Propaganda Model of News
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9/11: BUSH STUMBLES OVER HIS 9/11 LIES AT A PRESS CONFERENCE
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Bush Accidentally Admits Real Iraq War Plan
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Inside the Oberoi
(01:44) From the Scene
Nov 26 - British lawyer Mark Abell, who is locked in his room at the Oberoi hotel in Mumbai, speaks to Reuters.
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Mumbai hotels under siege
(01:27) Report
Nov 27 - Gunfire rang out Thursday as Indian commandos and police laid siege to gunmen holding foreigners in two luxury hotels, after attacks in Mumbai left scores dead.
Dan Sloan reports.
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Huge flames at Mumbai hotel
(00:50) Rough Cut
Nov 27 - Huge flames are seen from an upper floor of Mumbai's Trident-Oberoi Hotel as commandos battle militants.
These pictures were broadcast live on Indian tv on Thursday evening local time (Nov 27, 2008) as there appeared to be a fresh bout of fighting between Indian commandos and Islamist militants at the Trident-Oberoi Hotel, where scores of people have been trapped and some taken hostage.
Commandos earlier freed hostages from the Taj Hotel and have also gathered outside a Jewish centre where militants are thought to be holding a rabbi.
More than 100 people have been killed in a series of assaults in India's financial capital which began on Wednesday.
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On-scene report from Mumbai
(01:36) Report
Nov 26 - Reuters' Greg Beitchman reports from the scene in Mumbai after at least 80 people were killed and hundreds of others wounded in near-simultaneous attacks that apparently targeted tourists.
Shootings and explosions occurred at around eight places in southern Mumbai, including two hotels where television
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Shivraj Patil reacts on attacks
(02:09) Report
Nov. 27 - Home Minister Shivraj Patil reacts to news of multiple attacks in Mumbai that killed scores of people.
An ANI Report.
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Mumbai attacked, tourists targeted
(01:11) Report
Nov 26 - Shootings and explosions that apparently targeted tourists occurred in at least eight spots in southern Mumbai, killing at least 80 people and wounding hundreds.
In an email to news organizations, a little-known group called the Deccan Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Katharine Jackson reports.
Commandos battle militants in Mumbai
(01:00) Report
Nov.27 - Commandos exchanged fresh fire with suspected Islamist militants inside Mumbai's Taj Hotel and at the nearby Trident-Oberoi, where scores of people were trapped and some taken hostage.
Paul Chapman, Reuters
Militant complains of army abuses in Kashmir 6:04pm IST
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A militant holed up in a Jewish centre in Mumbai phoned an television channel on Thursday to offer talks with the government for the release of hostages, but also to complain about abuses in Kashmir
Mumbai attacks "will not deter British business" 8:42pm IST
LONDON, Nov 27 (Reuters) - The wave of attacks on India's financial capital Mumbai has knocked confidence among British investors but businesses will not be deterred long-term, the head of the body promoting bilateral trade said on Thursday.
Home Minister should bear full responsibility: Left
27 Nov 2008, 1654 hrs IST, ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Left, which has been quite vocal against "Hindu terror", on Thursday pulled its punches over the Mumbai attack and restricted
it-self into demanding an "assurance from the government" that it was making efforts to tackle terror. The Left's muted response is not unexpected as its friends in the liberal side have already started humming the "resilient Mumbai theme" af-ter the jehadis outraged Mumbai.
The Batla House regulars and cop bashers in the Left have also came upfront to play homage to valiant officers who laid down their lives. "Given the recurring and widespread pattern of terrorist attacks oc-curring in the country, the Central Government has to assure the people that concerted efforts are being made to tackle the problem," the CPM politbureau said in a statement here.
It said the killing of ATS chief Hemant Karkare was particularly grievous. The CPM, which had been critical of the government and intelligence agencies during earlier terror attacks, said the attacks targeting a rail-way station, hotels and other places by groups of heavily armed men accompanied by explosions bore the "hallmark" of a carefully planned terrorist strike.
"The immediate need is for the people to face this grim situation with fortitude and foil any sectarian attempts to exploit the situation. The entire country expresses its solidarity with the people of Mumbai in this difficult situation," it said. The CPM has been facing "soft on terror" charges in its own back-yards.
The Congress-led UDF has been saying that the government led by the CPM did not do anything to prevent the "export" of terrorists from Kerala. Two towns in Kerala -- Vagamon and Beenanipuram -- hosted two training camps of local jehadi outfit Simi. The investiga-tions by central and state agencies have found that the Simi cadre trained in these camps were behind the attacks in Delhi and Gujarat.
The CPM has been enthusiastically participating in "victimhood" meetings in Kerala. Its education minister MA Baby has recently par-ticipated in a meeting to facilitate People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Abdul Naseer Madani. The LDF has been denying reports of widespread extremist activities in the state.
State police intelligence had recently made a breakthrough into alleged links of Keralites with Kashmiri militants. Meanwhile, the CPI said it was intriguing that such a well-planned attack in Mumbai escaped our intelligence agencies. "The home minis-ter should bear full responsibility for it," CPI's Gurudas Dasgupta said
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Home_Minister_should_bear_full_responsibility_Left/articleshow/3765672.cms
Political will required to fight terror: Modi writes to PM
27 Nov 2008, 1631 hrs IST, PTI
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying political will and national resolve
were required to root out terrorism, a day after Mumbai was rocked by terror attacks that have left around 100 dead.
"There is a need to exhibit political will and national resolve to fight against terrorists who have put the internal security of the country in jeopardy," he said in the letter.
"The time is ripe to chalk out a coordinated strategy to maintain internal security by cooperation between all Central and state agencies," he said.
"I request the Prime Minister to call a meeting of all the Chief Ministers to firm up a coordinated strategy to root out terrorism from the country," he further said. Referring to the Mumbai strikes, Modi said this is for the first time that sea route has been used by terrorists.
"The terrorists are targeting our economic establishments which is a proxy war unleashed by our enemies." Modi requested the Prime Minister to also call a separate meeting of western coastal states, especially those near Pakistan, with Indian Navy and Coast Guard to devise a strategy to counter terror coming from the sea.
The Gujarat CM, in the letter, has described the Mumbai strikes as "an attack on the faith of people of India".
PTI
India's Manmohan Singh vows to track down those behind the Mumbai attacks that have left at least 101 dead, as operations continue to free remaining hostages! Blaming elements outside the country for the terror strikes in Mumbai, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday warned that India will not tolerate the use of territories of its neighbours for attacks !Mumbai terror attacks have cast a shadow over the composite INDO PAK dialogue process. And in spite of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's tough message, the UPA government is expected to face criticism for its Pakistan policy and failure to push Islamabad on the issue of terrorism. The joint anti-terror mechanism is yet to show any results and there has been no followup on any of the evidence that was shared with Pakistan on a series of serial blasts. In the last meeting of the joint anti terror mechanism, the two sides had discussed the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul where India suspects the role of the ISI. But Islamabad has continued to deny a Pakistan link and, sources said, the only concession so far is a promise to follow up on any evidence that India cares to share with Pakistan.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his address to the nation had said that India would take ``We will take up strongly with our neighbours that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us will not be tolerated, and that there would be a cost if suitable measures are not taken by them.,'' he said.
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Foreign tourists in Mumbai head home
(01:57) Report
Nov.27 - Foreign tourists return home after militant attacks in Mumbai killed at least 101 people.
The international community on Thursdayexpressed outrage over the terror strikes in Mumbai, with world leaders, joined by US President-elect Barack Obama, rallying behind India and offering support to fight the scourge and "root out" the terrorist networks.
The U.S., U.K., Russia, Pakistan, France and Japan described terrorism as a "grave and urgent threat" and underlined the need for a collective action to "root out and destroy terrorist networks."
U.S. President George W Bush called up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to offer condolences and "support and assistance" to India as it works to investigate "these despicable acts" and provide relief to the victims.
Condemning the deadly attacks, Bush said the US will continue to stand with the people of India.
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice also telephoned External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee to offer America's help in the investigations and other aspects.
Obama, who will assume the charge of U.S. President in January, said the attacks in Mumbai demonstrated "the grave and urgent threat" of terrorism and emphasised that the U.S. "must continue to strengthen our partnerships with India and nations around the world to root out and destroy terrorist networks."
I had been watching Live Telecast and Updates on Mumbai Attacks.India's worst terror attack in Mumbai began Wednesday night when militants attacked high profile landmarks, including the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, Oberoi Trident Hotel, Metro Theatre and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) railway station. At least 101 people, including a foreign tourist and four top police officers, were killed and over 250 injured. The crisis continued Thursday with terrorists holding people hostage in the two five-star hotels.
Nine foreigners have been killed and eleven others injured in multiple terror attacks here, hospital sources said on Thursday.
The dead included one Australian, one British and one Japanese who have been identified for their nationality while four persons' names have been identified without nationality, they said.
However, three others were yet to be identified, sources said.
I was seeing every update from BBC which contacted with the Foreign citizens stranded into Taz and Oberoy Hotels. Meanwile,In the wake of terror attacks in Mumbai, the US, Britain and Australia have advised its citizens to defer travel to India's commercial capital till further notice.
I also watched the Bangla news channels where an army Expert commented how the Entire ATS Team involved in Malegaon blast Investigation is dragged into the encounter and almost Wiped out including the head Hemant Karkare!The ATS believed it had cracked the September 29 Malegaon bomb blast case, and about a month ago arrested Hindu extremists in a breakthrough that shocked the nation and added a new twist to the entire discourse on terror and religion. But as the probe unravelled the alleged plot and the role of some Hindu leaders, the case got caught in the politics of terror and the ATS was at the centre of charges that it was being used as a tool to target the Sangh Parivar amid allegations of illegal detention and torture by some of the 11 arrested for the blast. The BJP, RSS and VHP leaders, among others from the Hindu nationalist brigade, accused the ATS of being on a witch-hunt, with some even demanding that ATS officers be subjected to a narco-analysis to establish their motives.
Thanks to INDIA TV, we could hear from two Terrorists involved in the Attack as they claimed to be! I and my Countrymen with bleeding Heart heard from Imran Babar, who identified himself as one of the terrorists involved in the terror strikes in Mumbai, called up India TV news channel Thursday and said they wanted to have talks with the government for exchange of the hostages. He spoke on drectly the Ideology of ZIHAD and was mentioning the Strategic Zionist alliance. The CLUE of the attack could be traced in his passionate exposure.
"We want to negotiate with the government. Only then will we let go the hostages," said Babar, who claimed to be from the Deccan Mujaheedin, a previously unknown group that has claimed responsibility.
Claiming to have worked as a medical representative in a multinational company, Babar said these attacks were to avenge the "torture and injustice" faced by Muslims in India.
"Do you know how many Muslims are killed in Kashmir by your armed forces? Give them their freedom, why are you creating such a mess there?" Babar, who said he was 25 years of age, told the news channel India TV.
"How much of injustice can we tolerate? How much can we sacrifice?" he said.
He, however, skirted the query as to which place he hails from.
Earlier in the day, another man calling himself a terrorist and identifying himself as Shahadullah, telephoned the news channel from Oberoi-Trident Hotel claiming that he was from the Indian city of Hyderabad. He spoke in Hindustani with what appeared to be a Pakistani accent. He told the channel that the attack had been carried out to avenge the 1992 razing of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya and the "persecution" of Muslims in India. He demanded the release of jailed Indian Mujahideen militants in exchange for tourists taken hostage at the Taj and Oberoi Trident hotels as well as Nariman House in the heart of the city. The man ended the telephonic conversation saying "Allah Hafiz".
As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accused India's neighbours for the terror attack, Pakistan warned against jumping to conclusions and ``making insinuations against each other''. Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who is in the middle of a four-day visit to India, condemned the Mumbai shootings but warned against jumping to quick conclusions. ``Today you are victims. We are victims of terrorism on a daily basis. We must cooperate at this time instead of making insinuations against each other," Mr Qureshi was quoted as saying. "It's a very sad incident but lets not jump to conclusions and cut a sorry figure. Let's show maturity. We will cooperate, I can assure you," he added. The Zardari government has continued to say that it is also a victim of terrorism. Mr Qureishi, who offered to establish a hotline between the intelligence chiefs of the two countries for information sharing, referred to the Samjhauta blast. "The Samjhauta incident very clearly indicates that we have to be cautious. Our expressions and our insinuations have to be measured. Pakistan wants to cooperate. We have to face the common enemy in terrorism and it is a global challenge," he was quoted as saying.
Former prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh is No More. Raja of Manda is best known for playing the OBC Reservation Card. Coincidentally Fascist Hindutva Forces used the Age Old KAMANDAL against MANDAL. Which eventually demolished Babri Mosque. The Hindus left in Bangladesh faced the most violent reaection in this subcontinent as Taslima Nasreen described in her controversial novel LAJJA. Hindutva wave established a NDA Rule led and commanded by RSS just after Congress Government led by Narsimha Rao introduced Neo Liberalism and the Pandora`s Box of Liberation, Privatisation and globalisation was opened. Narsimha Rao was elected as PM as Congress could not do well in North India even after the sad demise of Rajiv Gandhi in a LITTE Bomb Blast.Vishwanath Pratap Singh, who cobbled a coalition of the Left and BJP to dethrone Rajiv Gandhi in the 1989 elections, played the reservation card a year later that irreversibly changed the course of Indian politics, bringing to the fore the power of backwards and Dalits in electoral politics. BJP withdrew support as Lalkrishna adwani, the much Hyped NDA Prime Minister in waiting was stopped and arrested by Lalu Prasad Yadav in Bihar. Charan Singh formed a minority government supported by rajiv Gandhi and his party. ultimately the support was withdrawn with a lame excuse of alleged spying of rajiv himself. The Myawati Phenomenon is solidly based on VP tenure as Prime Minister of India. he was the man who established the OBC people in Indian Polity and Society. In reaction, RSS played all out the Hindutva card. The Indigenous rising and emerging equation of ST, SC, OBC and Minrities pushed Indian Ruling Class to be part and parcel of the Post Modern galaxy MANUSMRITI APARTHEID Order led by United States of America.
Fall of VP Singh coincided with not only the introduction of Neoleberalism but it placed India firmly into the lap of Global Zionist White Hegemony led by USA. It was the Departure point when India dissassociated itself from the legacy of Nehru Gandhi pro Soviet Anti American Policy. Washington was proactive enough to plant Dr Manmohan singh as the Finance Minister of India who has eventually proved himself as the supreme slave of US War and weapon Economy.The initial investor reaction to the Mumbai attacks suggests they expect India's traditionally resilient markets to take a bigger hit from this turmoil than from previous episodes in the city's violent history.
With financial and commodity markets shut after gunmen killed 101 people, the only inkling of damage to sentiment came from a rise in India's risk premium on international credit markets and a drop in offshore Indian stock and rupee futures.
The central bank said it would continue auctions to keep cash flowing through interbank lending markets, which seized up after the global financial crisis destroyed Wall Street banks in September.
Al Quaeda already declared India a party in its Zihad as India allied with United states Of america in its War against Terrorism! Since then India is bleeding! Mumabi attack is only a solid EVIDENCE how well planned and coordinated may be the Terror strikes! United States of America is too eager to help India dealing Insurgency and terror. We must be aware of the Result. History teaches us the lesson very well wherever the West has interfered , Disintegration and Partition become quite MANDATORY. We have already suffered a HOLOCAUST sixty years back while India was divided. Then in 1971, Pakistan also disintegrated and at the time it was the strongest ally of united States of America. USA sent Seventh fleet to save Pakistan but bangladesh was liberated. Thus, there is no garrantee that alliance with USA may save a country.
The Ruling Hegemony in India did everything to plant the War Zone right into our Heart. It helps the US Weapon Industry and its Kickback agents with Swiss Bank Accounts. The Ruling Class made us an ally of United states of Ameriac and that is why we msut share the Destiny of USA. It has been proved in Global Meltdown. Now, it is the ULTIMATE TRUTH about our internal Security. That is why we are predestined to BLEED!
Close to 24 hours after the audacious terror attacks, security forces were on Thursday engaged in a grim battle to flush out terrorists holed up in two luxury hotels and a Jewish residential complex in Mumbai where more than 200 people including foreigners were trapped as hostages or used as human shields. The operations against terrorists is in its final stage and will be over soon, said Maharashtra DGP A N Roy.
Mumbai is no stranger to political violence and markets have usually regarded previous bombings and other attacks with a degree of nonchalance. Wednesday's attacks though will put an additional strain on nerves frayed by global financial turmoil and a tide of cash pouring out of Indian assets.
Indian Trade Minister Kamal Nath said on Thursday the attacks on high profile targets in the country's commercial capital would not slow investment into an ecomomy already under strain!
"This does not have an economic component. It's an unfortunate event. These type of things have happened in New York and other major cities," Nath said.
The global downturn has already rattled Indian financial markets and a credit squeeze has prompted the government and central bank to take a series of measures to lift sagging growth.
The Reserve Bank expects the economy to expand by 7.5-8 per cent in the 2008-09 fiscal year, slowing from 9 per cent posted in the last three years.
India's capital market regulator said the country's two major stock exchanges would remain closed on Thursday.
Elite commandoes of the topline security forces from army, navy, NSG and Rapid Action Force were involved in the raging encounter with unspecified number of heavily-armed terrorists in Taj and Trident (Oberoi) hotels where throughout the day grenade explosions have set various floors on fire.
As dusk fell, there was expectation that the forces would intensify their assault to overwhelm the terrorists.
About 20 to 25 of them were believed to have come in three small inflatable boats, whose mother ship has been traced by Indian naval ships patrolling the Arabian Sea.
Defence Minister to hold talks with military top brass
With terrorists striking in Mumbai, Defence Minister A K Antony has convened a high-level meeting of the armed forces today to review the situation.
The meeting is likely to be attended by Chiefs of Staff Committee chairman Admiral Sureesh Mehta and Air Force chief Fali Homi Major, apart from top intelligence officers of the services, Defence Ministry sources told PTI here.
The top honchos of the Defence Ministry are likely to chalk out an anti-terror plan during the meeting, which would also review the operations being carried out by Army and Marine commandos in Mumbai.
Contingents of armed forces' strike troops have joined the National Security Guards (NSG) in the operations at the Oberoi and Taj hotels to flush the militants holed up there since last night.
Antony would also review the coastal security and intelligence gathering mechanism in the wake of reports that the attackers had sneaked in to Mumbai through the sea route, the sources said.
Taj Hotels GM's wife, children killed in terrorist attack
The wife and the two children of General Manager of Taj Hotels Karambir Kang were killed in the terrorist attack on the hotel. Confirming the news, a company spokesperson said while Kang is safe his wife and children were killed at the Taj Hotel, where the security forces were trying to release hostages held by terrorists since late Wednesday. It is learnt that they were killed in the fire that broke out in the hotel after the attack and their bodies were charred beyond recognition, according to hotel sources.
Mumbai attacks had some al-Qaeda hallmarks: Britain
Britain's spy agencies had little warning of the terrorist attack in Mumbai, which bore some al-Qaeda hallmarks but appears unlikely to be linked to the group's core leadership, officials said on Thursday.
Westerners in India's financial centre were targeted in the spectacular attack comprised of multiple, simultaneous assaults — a signature of past al-Qaeda actions including the Sept. 11 attacks. But the Indian attack was carried out by gunmen and not the suicide bombers frequently employed by al-Qaeda and its affiliates.
The group who claimed responsibility — Deccan Mujahideen — was unknown to security officials, a British security official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity surrounding the work. He said terror threats in India had been increasing but the scale of the attack on Wednesday was a surprise and there were no indications attacks would target Westerners.
"We have been actively monitoring plots in Britain and abroad and there was nothing to indicate something like this was about to happen," the official told the AP.
Britain is the former colonial power in India and Pakistan and closely monitors terrorist suspects in those countries. The majority of the nearly 2 million British Muslims are of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin. More than 2,000 terror suspects are being monitored in the U.K. alone, with dozens more being watched in other countries, Britain's security services have said.
"It's too early to say definitively at this stage, but based on what we've seen so far this doesn't look like a core al-Qaeda attack," another British security official told the AP on condition of anonymity. "It certainly looks to have been inspired by Islamic extremist ideology."
Western security officials believe attacks organized, directed and funded specifically by al-Qaeda's core leadership along the Afghan/Pakistan border are not frequent. More common are incidents in which terrorists have either some limited contact with al-Qaeda leaders, or are inspired to carry out attacks by the ideology of Islamic extremism.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh blamed "external forces" and the Indian navy said its forces were boarding a cargo vessel suspected of ties to the attacks.
Navy spokesman Capt. Manohar Nambiar said Thursday that the ship, the MV Alpha, had recently come to Mumbai from Karachi, Pakistan.
Pakistani officials in Britain said they were unaware of the plot. In September, a massive suicide truck bomb devastated the Marriott Hotel in the capital, Islamabad, killing at least 54 people, including three Americans and the Czech ambassador.
"This type of terrorism is spreading, through Pakistan and now India, but we were all surprised by such a large-scale attack like this," said Wajid Hassan, Pakistan's High Commissioner in London. "This is no coincidence that this type of attack happened so soon after the bombing of the Marriott Hotel. People from all countries are being paid to fight this al-Qaeda war. This is a war that goes beyond any nationality."
Few terrorism experts have heard of the Deccan Mujahadeen.
"Initially we saw violence in India imported from outside — with allegations of Pakistani government support — but now we are seeing new, homegrown groups," said Nigel Inkster, director of Transnational Threats at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
"There is a possible link to al-Qaeda," he said. "Logically it would be easier for al-Qaeda to get things done in India than in the U.S. and Europe. Everyone's been expecting some type of pre-U.S. election or post-U.S. election spectacular, and there is some speculation that this is it."
Bush calls Singh to offer support
WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush called Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday to express condolences and offer support after attacks in
Mumbai left more than 100 people dead, a White House spokeswoman said.
"President Bush spoke this morning by telephone with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to express condolences to the victims of the terror attacks in Mumbai, India, and solidarity with the people of India," White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said in a statement.
"The president offered support and assistance to the government of India as it works to restore order, provide safety to its people and comfort to the victims and their families, and investigate these despicable acts," she said.
Mumbai:Nine foreign nationals killed in terror attacks in Mumbai! Kashmir solution must for peace in Afghanistan, says France! Militants armed with automatic weapons and grenades attacked luxury hotels, hospitals and a famous tourist cafe in India's commercial capital Mumbai late on Wednesday, killing at least 101 people.Witnesses say the attackers were young South Asian men speaking Hindi or Urdu, suggesting they are probably members of an Indian militant group rather than foreigners.
One German national has been confirmed killed and several injured in the coordinated attacks against luxury hotels and other targets in Mumbai, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.
No timeframe for Mumbai operation: Indian Army
MUMBAI: As terrorists continued to hold civilians hostage in Mumbai for the second day Thursday, the Indian Army said it had put its best men on the job to flush out the militants but refused to give a timeframe on when the operation would be over.
The attacks were claimed by a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen in an e-mail to news organisations. Deccan is an area of southern India. Analysts say that while it is not clear whether the claim is genuine, the attacks were most likely carried out by a group called the Indian Mujahideen. The name used in the claim of responsibility suggests the attackers could be members of a south Indian offshoot or cell of the Indian Mujahideen.
Nearly 16 hours after the first gunbattle broke out between security forces and terrorists in south Mumbai, Maharashtra Director General of Police A.N. Roy on Thursday said there were no hostages in the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, and there were no talks with militants.
Till now five terrorists have been killed and nine suspected people have been arrested. The situation at the Taj hotel is under control. There is no hostage-like situation there," Roy told reporters.
"As of now there is no demand from militants. There are no talks with them. Either they will be arrested or killed," he added.
French nuclear physicist M George Vendryes and his wife, who were staying in Taj hotel in Mumbai, have been brought out safely from the terror-hit building, official sources said on Thursday. The 88-year-old scientist was in Mumbai to receive the Indian Nuclear Society's (INS) Eminent Scientist Award and was staying at the five-star hotel in south Mumbai, Department of Atomic Energy sources said.
The remainder of England's one-day cricket series against India was scrapped on Thursday following the terror attacks in Mumbai which also prompted the organisers of the USD six-million Champions League to postpone the high-profile Twenty20 event!
In all, 101 people including nine foreigners and about policemen have lost their lives while about 300 people were injured in the worst terror attacks seen in the country in which desperate men fired indiscriminately at people.
Targeting foreigners, particularly Americans and Britishers, the terrorists said to be five to seven in both the hotels held residents hostages.
While all the hostages in Taj hotel have been rescued, there are some people trapped in the rooms who are being used as human shields.
In Trident alone, about 200 people have been trapped -- 100 on the Trident side and 100 on the Oberoi side. While there were no official figures available about the number of people trapped or rescued, DGP A N Roy said all the hostages in Taj have been rescued but there could be people in their rooms.
Roy talked tough saying they would either kill or capture the terrorists alive.
There was also another scene of action in the Jewish complex Nariman House where four-five Israelis have been believed to have been held hostage by an equal number of terrorists.
Terrorists who have caused mayhem in the metropolis are not run-of-the-mill militants as believed earlier, but are "highly-trained and highly-motivated professionals".
This was the observation of the elite Marcos Naval Commandos which had the first confrontation with the terrorists at the city's landmark Taj Hotel.
"The terrorists are highly trained, motivated with where with all to mount a prolonged campaign," Vice-Admiral J S Bedi, Flag Officer Commanding, Western Naval Command said in Mumbai.
He said these observations were conveyed to him by his Marcos commandos.
In the operations, Marcos seized stun grenades, hand grenades and other sophisticated ammunitions and ATM cards, plus US dollars from the terrorists.
The terrorists were also found to be carrying huge loads of almonds, which can be used as food in long siege.
I belong to UTTARAKHAND. I have seen New delhi and Entire North India sleeping in peace in seventies while Bengal was troubled with Naxal Movement. I used to return home late in dark nights without any company, alone. The People in North India were habitual to sleep out side or on the roofs, in the fields in Summer. In the Indian capital, New delhi, Common People used to sleep under open sky on their Desi COT with Women and Children enmasses. Opration Blue Star changed the scenerio. We were never that safe. Indiscriminate firing was the ultimate terror. We came to know RDX. Whatever may be the political reason, the source of arms and ammunition had been the TALIBANS digging in Afganistan and fighting against USSR. The Talibans led by OSAM BIN LADEN was supported and funded by UNITED States of America. At that time every Indian Politician would quote CIA role behind every incident. CIA Agent was the most popular term used to abuse a politician at that time. Since neo Liberalism introduced, since Dr Manmohan Singh entered the Politics, no one ever names CIA. Indira gandhi had been more than adament to maintain Peace in indian Ocean. She alwaqys warned against Disintegration and Destablising forces. But, ironically, post modern Indian Rulers no matter what color orideology they boast of, embrace all those forces full heartedly.
Thus, any Terror Strike is not going to be a single Tragedy. It is a reality Serial full of terror and Blood of our own countrymen, sceduled to continue and feed the Money machine!
Mumbai attacks: A test for Indian markets
Reuters reports:
Mumbai The initial investor reaction to the Mumbai attacks suggests they expect India's traditionally resilient markets to take a bigger hit from this turmoil than from previous episodes in the city's violent history.
With financial and commodity markets shut after gunmen killed 101 people, the only inkling of damage to sentiment came from a rise in India's risk premium on international credit markets and a drop in offshore Indian stock and rupee futures.
The central bank said it would continue auctions to keep cash flowing through interbank lending markets, which seized up after the global financial crisis destroyed Wall Street banks in September.
Mumbai is no stranger to political violence and markets have usually regarded previous bombings and other attacks with a degree of nonchalance. Wednesday's attacks though will put an additional strain on nerves frayed by global financial turmoil and a tide of cash pouring out of Indian assets.
"Everyone is just hoping that it will be one of the short-lived episodes," said ING chief Asian economist Tim Condon.
"People have seen this before although this is on an order of magnitude worse than what we have seen. That makes the usual comfortable assumption less comfortable, this Pakistanisation of Indian financial markets," he said.
The capital markets regulator said the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange will be closed on Thursday as security forces battled militants who held hostages in two luxury Mumbai hotels.
Coming at a time when foreigners have been heavy sellers of Indian assets, the attacks raised fears of a steeper fall in the rupee and a further blow to market confidence.
"Clearly, it will be negative for the sentiment towards India at this point of time, the time when the world is already looking to be highly uncertain in term of its growth prospects," said Joseph Tan, chief Asian economist at Credit Suisse in Singapore.
"When the equity market actually opens, it could probably be opening down as opposed to the rest of Asia."
As traffic ground to a halt in south Mumbai, where the central bank and several financial institutions are located, it appeared the earliest indications of how deep those concerns run would be known only on Friday.
Trading in offshore rupee forwards was thin but suggested the rupee could drop 1.6 per cent within a month, more bearish than Wednesday's pricing of a 0.7 per cent depreciation.
The risk premium for top Indian lender State Bank of India rose. The state-owned bank is a proxy in the debt market for the government, which has no sovereign bonds outstanding.
Credit default swaps, which are insurance-like contracts, on the bank's five year bonds widened 20 basis points to 440 basis points after the attacks.
Indian stock index futures fell 4 per cent in Singapore trade at their weakest, pointing to a likely steep fall in domestic shares. On Wednesday, the 50-share NSE index gained 3.7 per cent. India's main 30-share BSE index ended up 3.8 per cent. The rupee ended trading at 49.48 per dollar.
"As the situation calms down, these attacks might be viewed as an isolated event," said Mumbai-based Amit Khurana, head of equities at the Indian unit of British broker Collins Stewart.
UNFORTUNATE TIMING
When suburban train bombings killed 180 people in Mumbai in 2006, the rupee barely blipped while the Bombay stock index fell 1.8 per cent but then rallied.
There have been four bombings prior to Wednesday's attack this year.
The stock index is already down 55 per cent this year -- Asia's fourth worst performer -- after having seen $13.5 billion of portfolio outflows from a market with a capitalisation of $266 billion.
The rupee figures among the weakest currencies in Asia this year alongside the Indonesian rupiah and Korean won, having dropped 20 per cent against the dollar owing to capital outflows and a withdrawal of foreign credit lines from riskier markets.
"This means that capital outflows will have a greater impact than they did in the past, though history suggests that any reaction to terrorist attacks in Mumbai will only be temporary," Nikhilesh Bhattacharya, an economist with Moody's Economy, said in a note.
Mark Matthews, chief Asian strategist at Merrill Lynch, said this was also the time analysts were downgrading their forecasts for Indian corporate earnings rather dramatically.
"That will continue to be a drag on the market because Indian analysts are behind the curve on earnings relative to the rest of Asia," Matthews said.
Slowing growth and uncertainty about upcoming general elections in 2009 would also weigh down the market, at least until March, he reckons. Merrill predicts the index price-earnings ratio will drop to 9.1 in 2009 from 10.1 now.
Currency analysts expect the rupee will weaken sharply when it opens for trading on Friday, but they also suspect any weakness will be knee-jerk and fleeting and that the central bank will jump to its defence as it always has in volatile spells.
"Such terrorist attacks do not have a lasting impact on the market -- I don't think it will have a lasting impact on India," said Credit Suisse's Tan.
Gunmen killed at least 101 people in a series of attacks in India's financial capital Mumbai and troops began moving into two five-star hotels on Thursday where Western hostages were being held, local television said. Gunfire and explosions were heard at the landmark Taj Mahal hotel and thick plumes of smoke rose from the building, witnesses said. There were also explosions at the Oberoi hotel and firing at a hospital where gunmen were surrounded.
"The terrorists are throwing grenades at us from the rooftop of the Taj and trying to stop us from moving in," Ashok Patil, a police inspector said.
Police said more than 250 people were wounded in the attacks which also targeted a railway station and the Cafe Leopold, perhaps the most famous restaurant and hang-out for tourists in the city.
An organisation calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen said it was behind attacks, television channels said. The previously little known group sent an email to news organisations claiming responsibility.
"I guess they were after foreigners, because they were asking for British or American passports," said Rakesh Patel, a British witness who lives in Hong Kong and was staying at the Taj Mahal hotel on business. "They had bombs."
"They came from the restaurant and took us up the stairs," he told a TV news channel, smoke stains all over his face. "Young boys, maybe 20 years old, 25 years old. They had two guns."
India has suffered a wave of bomb attacks in recent years.
The latest attack, apparently aimed at least partly at prosperous Western tourists, is bound to spook investors in one of Asia's largest and fastest-growing economies.
Hemant Karkare, the chief of the police anti-terrorist squad in Mumbai, was killed during the attacks, police said.
"We have shot dead four terrorists and managed to arrest nine suspected terrorists," PD Ghadge, a police officer at Mumbai's central control room, said.
Japan's Foreign Ministry said one of its nationals was killed in the Mumbai attacks and one injured.
TRAPPED HOTEL GUESTS
Mark Abell, a British lawyer, said he had locked himself inside his Oberoi hotel room after hearing two explosions.
Several hundred people had been evacuated from the Taj hotel, one witness said, but many more remained inside, some calling for help from the fifth floor. Firefighters broke windows to reach trapped guests.
"We came down the fire exit, but I think they took some more people, they are trying to get to the roof," one foreigner told local television. "I think about 15 people (have been taken hostage), about half of them are foreigners."
In Washington, the White House and US President-elect Barack Obama condemned the attacks, as did France, current President of the European Union, and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
A European official was among the wounded.
"My hotel is surrounded by police and there are gunmen inside," European lawmaker Ignasi Guardans told Spanish radio from the Taj. "We are in contact with some deputies inside the hotel, with one in a room and another hidden in the kitchen. There's another official hurt and in hospital."
Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil said there were around four or five attackers in each of the two hotels.
"They have attacked hotels, they have attacked the hospitals, they have attacked the railway station," he said.
KOREANS, EUROPEANS CAUGHT UP IN ATTACKS
A driver told Reuters at least 50 Koreans were stuck inside the Taj with their drivers waiting outside.
"We were just getting ready to pick them up, when we heard the first blast, police did not let us get past and they (the Koreans) are not answering the phones," Deepak Aswar, the driver said. Europeans were also caught up in the attacks.
"I was in the restaurant inside Oberoi and I saw this series of gunshots and death which I don't want to see again," a Spaniard who declined to give his name told Reuters.
"I crawled out into the kitchen and waited there, until I sensed it was all quiet and seemed over."
Maharashtra state police chief A.N. Roy said attackers had fired automatic weapons indiscriminately, and used grenades, adding that they were still holed up in some buildings.
Sourav Mishra, a Reuters reporter, was with friends at the Cafe Leopold when gunmen opened fire around 9:30 p.m. He was injured and is in St George's Hospital.
"I heard some gunshots around 9:30. I was with my friends. Something hit me. I ran away and fell on the road. Then somebody picked me up. I have injuries below my shoulder," Mishra said from a hospital bed he was sharing with three other people.
Another Reuters reporter saw a hospital ward full of injured people with bullet and shrapnel wounds. Many people were crying as the injured were brought in on trolleys.
Former PM V P Singh passes away
Vishwanath Pratap Singh, who cobbled a coalition of the Left and BJP to dethrone Rajiv Gandhi in the 1989 elections, played the reservation card a year later that irreversibly changed the course of Indian politics, bringing to the fore the power of backwards and Dalits in electoral politics.
The 77-year-old 'Raja of Manda', a sobriquet he earned because of his origins in the principality of Manda in Uttar Pradesh's Fathepur, entered politics in Allahabad during the Nehru era and soon made a name for his rectitude.
He earned the title of 'Mr Clean' despite occupying positions of power, including the Chief Ministership of Uttar Pradesh which he had resigned in the early 80s when his brother was killed by dacoits, and as Minister at the Centre.
Singh resigned as Defence Minister after he was shifted from Finance in 1987 at the height of his campaign against leading industrialists on the issue of tax evasion and later took on the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by quitting Congress on the issue of Bofors scandal.
Forming Jan Morcha, an amalgam of disgruntled Congressmen, he later became the pivot around which the opposition came together to dethrone Congress to give the first non-Congress coalition at the Centre, supported by the Left parties and the BJP from outside.
Singh, once considered very close to Rajiv Gandhi, quit his government in 1987 on the issue of corruption in public life.
After being expelled from Congress, he launched 'Jan Morcha', was elected to Lok Sabha from Allahabad and then became a rallying point for the National Front comprising Janata Dal, Telugu Desam, Asom Gana Parishad, DMK and Congress(S). The Jan Morcha was merged with the Janata Dal before the 1989 general elections.
In May 1996, after the defeat of Congress in the Lok Sabha elections, Singh was the guiding spirit behind the formation of the United Front and was the first choice for Prime Ministership.
But he declined the offer. After the government of H D Deve Gowda fell in April 1997, he again played an important role from his hospital bed along with the late Left veteran Harkishan Singh Surjeet in maintaining the UF unity and making Inder Kumar Gujral the Prime Minister.
Away from politics, Singh had always taken a keen interest in poetry and painting and had also held exhibitions of his artwork.
He has penned a number of poems and his first anthology of poems 'Ek Tukda Dharti, Ek Tukda Asman' was published some time back. Perhaps the greatest rallying point for 'anti- Congressism' in the country after Jaiprakash Narayan, Singh, however, took positions nearer to that of Congress in late years, particularly after BJP came to power at the Centre in 1998.
Born in Allahabad on June 25, 1931, Singh studied science with aspirations of becoming a nuclear scientist and came out with flying colours in the B.Sc. examinations in Ferguson College, Pune.
But he finally gave pursuing M.Sc. from Allahabad University and was lured into politics. He made his debut as a Congress legislator in 1969 winning the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and remained a member of the House till 1971, before being elected for the first time to Lok Sabha.
Singh was inducted into Indira Gandhi's Council of Ministers as a Deputy Minister of Commerce. After that, there was no looking back for him.
In 1980 when Indira Gandhi returned to power, Singh was made Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. His two-year stint at the helm of India's largest state ended dramatically when he quit in the wake of the anti-dacoit operations launched by his government.
But soon he was made Commerce Minister in Gandhi's cabinet. As Finance Minister in Rajiv Gandhi's government, Singh gained popularity for ordering searches and raids against industrial houses, hiring an American detective agency Fairfax for investigating accounts of Non Resident Indians and for taking up the Bofors pay-offs case.
Chandrababu condoles V P Singh's death
TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu condoled the death of former prime minister V P Singh and described him as a pioneer in ensuring due share to people from backward communities in political and administration fields.
Expressing grief over Singh's death, the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister said his demise was a "great loss for the nation and an extreme personal loss for him".
Recalling his association with the former Prime Minister, Naidu said on several occasions Singh gave meaningful and constructive advice during the formation of non-Congress governments at the Centre.
"I express my heart felt condolences to Singh's family members and he was a pioneer in ensuring due share to backward classes in the fields of politics and administration," Naidu.
Terrorists left before I reached terror sites: Patil
New delhi: "Before I could reach there, the terrorists who had attacked one of the hospitals, the Cama Hospital, had left and those who attacked the railway station had also left," Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said.
Patil, who briefed the Cabinet on the situation in Mumbai, was giving details to media about his visit to the city after terrorists struck there.
He said after the terrorists, who attacked Cama Hospital, ‘left’ the police chased them and killed one of them and injured another.
Patil, who condemned the attack as an act of cowardice, said the country would remain strong even as the terrorists attempt to weaken and create difficulty for the citizens.
The Home Minister had condoled the loss of lives, including top ranking police officers, in the attack and said their sacrifice would inspire the rest of the force to do their duty more resolutely.
Ind-Eng ODI series scrapped, Tests hang in balance
The remainder of England's one-day cricket series against India was scrapped on Thursday following the terror attacks in Mumbai which also prompted the organisers of the USD six-million Champions League to postpone the high-profile Twenty20 event.
While England will return home without playing the last two matches of the seven-ODI series, a final decision on the fate of the Test series will be taken later with the ECB making it clear that it would abide by the security advice by various sources.
After a prolonged meeting with top ECB officials and the England team management, BCCI secretary N Srinivasan told a press conference in Bhubaneswar that the Guwahati and New Delhi one-dayers have been called off in view of the security apprehensions expressed by the visiting team.
"BCCI has accepted ECB's request to postpone the Guwahati and Delhi one-dayers, said Srinivasan who held a lengthy discussion with ECB Managing Director Hugh Morris, visiting skipper Kevin Pietersen, coach Peter Moores and team manager Reg Dickason.
Regarding the fate of the two-match Test series scheduled to start in Ahmedabad from December 11, the BCCI secretary said, "We hope they will come to play the Test matches."
The ghastly terror strikes in Mumbai led to a spate of postponements with the Champions League, scheduled to be held in Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai from December 3 to 10, being deferred while the rebel Indian cricket League also called off the World Series event in Ahmedabad. A few other domestic tournaments and scheduled press conferences were also put off.
Morris said they would be holding discussions with Indian Cricket Board officials on the Test series which is still hanging fire.
Apart from Ahmedabad, Mumbai, where terrorist attacks left over 100 people dead since last night, is one of the venues for the two-match Test series.
"This morning I held initial discussions with the BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan, as well as representatives from the Indian team management at the team hotel in Bhubaneswar. I have also briefed the England players and management on the situation as well as liaising closely with the ECB Chairman and chief executive and the players' representatives," said Morris in a statement.
He later addressed a press conference and said the Test series would depend on the nature of security advice the team gets from various sources.
"We are looking at several options and we will go by the security advisors. If they advise us to play in India, we will play the Test series. However, the players are desperate and disturbed over the incidents in Mumbai," he said.
"The events of last night were deeply distressing and the situation is still unfolding. We are urgently seeking information from expert sources regarding last night's attacks and will continue to hold further discussions with our colleagues from the BCCI over the next 24 hours," Morris said.
Morris said the safety and security of the team could not be compromised at any stage. "The safety and security of the England team is of the utmost importance to ECB. We have reviewed all our security arrangements in the light of these attacks and will be taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of the team.
"On behalf of the Board and the England team, we would like to express our condolences to the families and friends of those people who were killed or injured in last night's attacks," Morris said.
England will stay put in Bhubaneswar for a day before returning home after losing all the five matches they played against India in the seven-match series.
A top BCCI source said that India agreed to call off the one-day tour but wanted England to visit the country a few weeks later for the two-match Test series.
The England team management has conveyed the BCCI proposal to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) top brass who will discuss the proposal and get back to the Indian Board.
On a day of hectic developments, the organisers of the Champions League postponed the event after many participating teams expressed reservations of travelling to India.
The decision was taken by the Governing Council of the Champions League 2020 after consultations among the three founding Board members of the tournament - BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa -- in the best interests of all the parties concerned, a media statement said.
"We held consultations among all the stakeholders, including the founding members, the participating teams and members of the Governing Council after the unfortunate terrorist attacks in Mumbai," said Lalit Modi, Chairman of the Champions League 2020.
"It was agreed that in the best interests of all concerned, the inaugural edition of the Champions League 2020 should be postponed," he said.
Terrorists came from Karachi via sea to Mumbai
The terrorists who attacked Mumbai came via sea routes from Karachi in Pakistan, according to an intelligence report.
The reports had warned that there could be a possible entry of terrorists into Mumbai through the sea route, a top police official claimed.
"This intelligence was available six months ago and subsequently a barge was found by the locals on Shrivardhan coast in Raigad district four months back," the official, who did not wish to be identified, said.
Locals feared that the barge might have contained explosives but nothing was found when customs and naval personnel inspected it.
The terrorists, who created havoc in Mumbai overnight, came by boats, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has said.
Militants armed with automatic weapons and grenades attacked Taj and Oberoi hotels, hospitals and a famous tourist cafe in Mumbai late on Wednesday, killing more than 100 people.
* WHO IS BEHIND THE ATTACKS?
Witnesses say the attackers were young South Asian men speaking Hindi or Urdu, suggesting that they are probably members of an Indian militant group rather than foreigners.
The attacks were claimed by a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen in an e-mail to news organisations. Deccan is an area of southern India.
Analysts say that while it is not clear whether the claim is genuine, the attacks were most likely carried out by a group called the Indian Mujahideen. The name used in the claim of responsibility suggests the attackers could be members of a south Indian offshoot or cell of the Indian Mujahideen.
* WHO ARE THE INDIAN MUJAHIDEEN?
Indian police say the Indian Mujahideen is an offshoot of the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), but that local Muslims appear to have been given training and backing from militant groups in neighbouring Pakistan and Bangladesh.
SIMI has been blamed by police for almost every major bomb attack in India, including explosions on commuter trains in Mumbai two years ago that killed 187 people.
Police said the Indian Mujahideen may also include former members of the Bangladeshi militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami.
* WHY ARE THEY SUSPECTED OF BEING BEHIND THE MUMBAI ATTACKS?
The Indian Mujahideen have made credible claims of responsibility for most of the recent major attacks on civilian targets in India over the past two years.
The Mumbai attacks appear to have been carefully co-ordinated, well-planned and involved a large number of attackers. A high level of sophistication has also been a hallmark of previous attacks by the Indian Mujahideen.
The Mumbai attacks also focused clearly on tourist targets, including two luxury hotels and a famous cafe.
In May, the Indian Mujahideen made a specific threat to attack tourist sites in India unless the government stopped supporting the United States in the international arena.
The threat was made in an e-mail claiming responsibility for bomb attacks that killed 63 people in the tourist city of Jaipur. The e-mail, signed by "Guru Al-Hindi", declared "open war against India" and included the serial number of one of the bicycles on which the bombs were left.
Witnesses in Mumbai say the attackers in Mumbai singled out Americans and Britons in their attacks.
* WHAT OTHER ATTACKS HAVE INDIAN MUJAHIDEEN CARRIED OUT?
The group first emerged during a wave of bombings in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh in November 2007, sending an e-mail to media outlets just before some of the bombs exploded.
Their next attacks were the Jaipur blasts.
On July 25, eight small bomb attacks in the IT city of Bangalore on July 25 that killed at least one person and wounded 15. There was no known claim of responsibility.
But a day later, at least 16 bombs exploded in Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat, killing 45 and wounding 161. Shortly before the blasts, an e-mail in the name of the Indian Mujahideen was sent to local media warning that people would soon "feel the terror of death" in the name of Allah.
It said the attacks were revenge for the Gujarat riots of 2002, when around 2,500 people, most of them Muslims, were killed by Hindu mobs. A later e-mail accused several state governments of harassing, imprisoning and torturing Muslims and threatened consequences if they did not stop.
In September, at least five bombs exploded in crowded markets and streets in New Delhi, killing at least 18 people.
The Indian Mujahideen sent out an e-mail moments after the first blast in New Delhi, saying the explosions were to prove its capability to strike in the most secure of Indian cities.
* WHAT WAS DIFFERENT ABOUT THE MUMBAI ATTACKS?
All previous incidents in which the Indian Mujahideen are suspected of involvement involved co-ordinated serial bombs.
The Mumbai attacks also show clear signs of coordination but were carried out by gunmen, some carrying grenades.
The tactics -- a military-style assault on soft targets, singling out foreigners, and taking hostages -- is rare and does not fit the usual methods of militant attacks on civilian areas.
However, similar attacks have been carried out before, notably the May 2004 attacks in the eastern Saudi city of Khobar.
Gunmen attacked two oil industry installations and a foreign workers' housing complex in the city, taking more than 50 hostages and killing 22 of them. The attackers asked hostages whether they were Christian or Muslim before deciding whom to kill.
Terrible situation in Mumbai: Amitabh Bachchan
The Indian film industry today expressed a deep shock over the nightmare that unfolded on Wednesday night as terrorists targeted various important locations in the Bollywood capital of Mumbai.
The industry people also appealed for sanity and called for unity after one of the biggest terrorist strikes rattled the country's financial and dream city.
"Terrible! terrible situation!," a shaken Amitabh Bachchan wrote in his blog.
"Mumbai under terrorist attack!! Several locations bombed and terrorist firing all over the city. Major hotels under siege. Taj hotel battle going on inside the hotel," says Bachachan, whose post reads like a doomsday account.
In one of the most audacious terror attacks in Indian history, at least 100 people have been killed and nearly 300 injured.
Two five star hotels, hospitals and the city's CST Railway station were among the key targets of the terrorists, who entered the city through boats at Gateway of India, just opposite the heritage Taj hotel.
"I am scared! shocked! I don't have words to describe my feelings. It seems unreal to me almost like a film. I don't know who are they and why they have resorted to such ruthlessness," film director Anurag Kashyap, who is in Goa to attend the IFFI told reporters over phone.
"They just enter the city like that and hold it hostage. It is unbelievable. Obviously Mumbai will bounce back but it has been hurt badly and it will take time to heal,"
says Kashyap, who has directed films like 'Black Friday' based on the 1993 terror strike and the ensuing riots.
Mumbai terror attacks hit film, television shootings
The terror attacks in the metropolis have cast shadow on the film and television industry where several shootings have been cancelled. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who was shooting for 'Teen Patti' till November 24 in Ballard Estate, Capital cinema, Horniman Circle and Kitab Mahal areas, which are in the vicinity of Mumbai CST station, one of the key sites of the attack, described the situation as "terrible".
"Mumbai under terrorist attack!! Several locations bombed and terrorists firing all over the city. Major hotels under siege. Multiple action on. Army called on. It's a terrible situation," he wrote on his blog echoing the sentiments of Mumbaikars.
Ajay Devgan and wife Kajol were to shoot for their animation film 'Toonpur Ka Superhero' in suburban Chembur today but the programme has been called off, Devgan's spokesman said.
Shooting of several television serials have also been put on hold in view of the grim situation prevailing in the megapolis in view of the attacks that have left at least 100 dead till now, industry sources said.
However, producer Mukesh Bhatt said the shooting for his film was in progress in the city.
Abhay Deol, whose 'Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye' is releasing tomorrow, said he was finding it difficult to concentrate on promotion of his film.
With a holiday declared in Mumbai today, heads of television channels have asked employees to stay indoors.
"Television shootings are going slow. Many of them are not happening today," they added.
Hotels world over a soft target for terrorists
Attacks on two luxury hotels -The Taj and Trident- in the country's financial capital Mumbai have drawn attention again to the fact that hotels are a soft target for terrorists who want to capture world attention to their causes.
The Mumbai incident follows previous attempts on hotels elsewhere in the world, one such incident in the recent past in Islamabad where a deadly blast targeted the Marriott hotel near Pakistan's Parliament, killing at least 40 people and wounded another 200.
In 2005 in Jordan, Al Qaeda conducted a series of coordinated bombing on three hotels in the capital city Amman on November 9. The blasts at at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, the Radisson SAS Hotel, and the Days Inn killed 60 people and injured 115 others. Oen of the hotels was hosting a wedding with hundreds of guests.
In October 2004, bombings at three sites on the east coast of the Sinai peninsula killed 34 people. The Egyptian government said the mastermind was Palestinian and the targets appeared to be Israeli tourists.
On August 5, 2003, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the lobby of the JW Marriott Hotel in Indonesian capital Jakarta killing 12 people, including one Danish, one Dutch and two Chinese and injuring 150. The hotel was viewed as a symbol of Western power and thus been the prime focus of terrorists.
Another reason why hotels are being targeted is because of the kind of clientele, experts say.
Mumbai being the financial capital of the country at the centre of economic decision making there are numerous important delegates checking into one of the seven or five star hotels in the city.
Australian actress hid inside cupboard to escape gunfire
An Australian TV actress, who was trapped inside Mumbai's Taj Hotel when terrorists went on a shooting spree, hid herself in a two-by-three metre cupboard for an hour to escape death.
Brooke Satchwell, former star of soap opera 'Neighbours', told a radio portal that she was inside the ground-floor toilets when the attack happened and "everyone just froze".
"As I stepped into the bathroom you could hear machine-gun fire start up in the lobby," she told the radio portal. "People started locking themselves into the toilet cubicles, which clearly wasn't a very good idea. But we were trying to find somewhere to hide," she said.
Satchwell, along with her boyfriend and about eight other foreigners, has now been moved to another hotel in south Mumbai, whose location was not disclosed for security reasons.
"I can't even get my leg dressed, we can't go to the airport, that's been bombed, we can't go to the police centres, they've been bombed," Satchwell's boyfriend told a newspaper from the hotel.
Recalling her ordeal at the Taj Hotel, the actress told the portal that hotel staff directed the group into the service cupboard, where she waited for up to an hour, hearing bursts of gunfire.
"Some of the hotel security came and ushered us very quickly down the corridor and across the lobby, clearly no one had a very good idea of what happened ... or where we were meant to be heading at that stage," she said.
At least 20 Australians were in the nearby Oberoi hotel, which also came under attack, all of them members of a New South Wales delegation organised by the Department of State and Regional Development.
Industry demands tougher laws against terrorists
Expressing shock over the terrorist attack in Mumbai claiming about 100 lives, Indian industry on Thursday demanded tougher laws along with "stronger and firmer" leadership to tackle terrorism.
The industry leaders, including heads of the apex chambers, said the country needs to be on a high alert since its institutions are becoming vulnerable to the terrorists' attacks.
Condemning the killer attacks in India's financial capital, HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh said, "Blasts are bad for investor confidence."
Demanding stringent laws to deal with terrorists, FICCI President Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, "It is time we all join this debate on terrorism and demand stronger and firmer leadership and approach to this threat of terrorism, including better laws."
He said the Indian business has so far been "mute and very detached from this debate on terrorism and tougher approach to terrorism and terrorists, including anti-terror laws".
CII President and ICICI Bank CEO and Managing Director K V Kamath said the attacks "clearly show that our institutions could be vulnerable whether institutions of commerce like hotels or any institutions doing any sort of business".
He said, "Everyone needs to be on high alert at this point of time."
However, while the city has a track record of bouncing back, "this is new type of attack and I am sure the city has to adjust to this attack," Kamath said.
Mumbai terror attack: Live timeline
Terrorists launched a massive attack on India's financial capital on Wednesday, and put major hotels under seige. A timeline of events since then:
8.00 pm: 4 more terrorists killed at the Taj. Another mammoth explosion in the Oberoi, starts huge fire.
7.30 pm: Major fire breaks out in Trident hotel.
6.45 pm: Large contingent of the RAF comes out of the New Taj building, two explosions heard in the Oberoi.
6.00 pm: Fourteen more people evacuated from the Oberoi, 50 more commandoes enter the Taj.
5:45: pm: Four injured foreign nationals have been moved out of the Trident hotel.
5.40: pm:An special NSG team specialised in managing hostage crisis, moves to Nariman house armed with rocket launchers and bazookas. Their aim is to flush out terrorists still holed inside and to free trapped Israeli hostages.
5.20 pm: The NSG arrests one militant at the Trident. The arrested terrorist has been identified as Abu Ismail from Faridkot in Pakistan.
4.56 pm: According to recent reports, five persons are being held as hostages at Nariman House.
4.55 pm: The Indian Navy spokesman Capt Manohar Nambiar says the Navy has "located the ship (MV Alpha) and now we are in the process of boarding it and searching it."
4.55 pm: Firing intensifies at Taj hotel and Trident hotel.
4.40 pm: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh confirms that the attacks are being carried out by a group based out of the country. He further promises to set up a Federal Investigation Authority to fight terror in a co-ordinated manner.
4.40 pm: 30 hostages have been freed from Trident hotel. However, reports claim that 35 people are still trapped inside the hotel.
4.40 pm: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condoles the deaths, describes the attacks as pre-planned. He further vows to take the strongest possible action in an address to the nation.
4.37 pm: Firing rages on at Trident Hotel.
4.37 pm: Grenade blast heard from Nariman House in south Mumbai.
4.25 pm: A terrorist has been reportedly killed in Taj hotel. Reports say that commandos have started barging into the rooms of the hotel.
4.24 pm: Terrorists holed up in Room No 473 of Taj Hotel.
4.23 pm: A major explosion heard from Taj Hotel.
4.18 pm: Major R K Hooda, General Officer Commanding of Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat, confirms that 4-5 militants holed up at Nariman House.
4.18 pm: Three Turks were holed up in their rooms in one of the luxury hotels in Mumbai attacked by Islamist militants, the Anatolia news agency reported quoting the Turkish Ambassador to India.
4.13 pm: Jewish priest Gabriel among hostages held at Nariman House, police say.
3.48 pm : Trawler or merchant vessel may have dropped speed boats allegedly used by terrorists, say Navy sources.
3.41 pm : Navy's INS Kunjali and Vindhyagiri are chasing the suspected terrorist vessel off Mumbai.
3.40 pm : Navy and Coast Guard on hot pursuit of a merchant vessel suspected to have dropped the terrorists off the Mumbai coast.
3.35 pm : President Pratibha Patil phones the PM.
3.30 pm: Another loud explosion at the Trident Oberoi. In total six blasts have been heard from the hotel in the last 30 minutes.
3.27 pm : "Before I could reach there, the terrorists who had attacked one of the hospitals, the Cama Hospital, had left and those who attacked the railway station had also left," Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said.
3.20 pm: Army along with NSG commandos prepares for final assault at Nariman House
3.12 pm : An Italian national was among nine foreigners killed in the attacks on hotels and other targets in Mumbai, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
3.11 pm : A section of Taj hotel catches fire again.
3.11 pm : Maharashtra DGP A N Roy reaches Trident hotel.
3.10 pm : The Coast Guard launched a major search for a ship 'M V Alpha' by which the terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks are suspected to have reached the shores of the metropolis.
3.03 pm : Investigators have picked up certain clues in connection with the terror attacks in Mumbai, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said, refusing to share details.
3.00 pm : Explosions heard inside Taj hotel.
2.50 pm: Terrorists holed up in Trident hotel throw five grenades outside the building. Meanwhile, two heavy explosions were heard from the hotel.
2.50 pm: European nations plan to send a plane to India to fly their citizens out of Mumbai, Spain's consul in the city said.
2.43 pm: Grenade blast heard from Nariman House in south Mumbai, where six terrorists are holed up.
2.43 pm: Another blast rocks Taj hotel.
2.40 pm: Firing resumes in Taj hotel, marking the beginning of another round of operation. Earlier, the Maharshtra DGP A N Roy had claimed that all the hostages have been rescued from Taj. But the firing has again resumed in the hotel, indicating the presence of threat in the luxurious establishment. Another report had claimed that four storeys of the six-storeyed Taj Hotel have been reportedly sanitised.
2.40 pm: More NSG commandos have reached the Taj hotel.
2.27 pm: British counter-terrorism experts say the terror attacks at prominent landmarks in Mumbai have "all the hallmarks" of being an al Qaeda operation.
2.08 pm: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said that the people involved in the deadly overnight terrorist attack came from outside with hand grenades and weapons.
1.50 pm: 200 more NSG commandos are being rushed to Mumbai, an National Security Guard spokesman said.
1.48 pm: Maharashtra Director General of Police A N Roy said nine suspected terrorists, who were held this morning, are being questioned.
1.48 pm: Maharashtra DGP A N Roy confirmed that all the hostages inside Taj have been rescued. However, hostage-like situation at Trident hotel continues, he added.
1.27 pm: Intelligence reports had warned that there could be a possible entry of terrorists into Mumbai through the sea route, a top police official claimed.
1.27 pm: The Gujarat Police said the Mumbai terror strike was similar to the Akshardham Temple attack of 2002, and they are carrying out checks and searches as a precautionary measure.
1.27 pm: Handgrenades lobbed from Oberoi Hotel in south Mumbai where terrorists are holed up.
1.27 pm: Expressing serious concern over the Mumbai terror attack, the AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi said it was an attack on the country and not only on the commercial capital, Mumbai.
1.22 pm: President Pratibha Patil speaks to Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh to enquire about the situation in the metropolis.
1.19 pm: One more body was brought out of the Taj Mahal hotel, taking the total number of bodies removed from there to three.
1.15 pm: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi termed the attacks as “barbaric” and extended support to the Indian government. Notably, today’s meeting of Qureshi and Union Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee at Chandigarh has been cancelled in the wake of the attacks.
1.10 pm: US Ambassador to India David Mulford offers condolences to the families of the victims of Mumbai terror attacks and said Washington was ready to provide all possible assistance to the Indian government.
1.04 pm: Another explosion at Trident.
1.02 pm: Loud explosion heard from Trident hotel.
1.01 pm: "We have total clue about the attacks," says Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil. However, he has refused to give details.
12.55 pm: A day after the terror attack on the historic Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus which left over hundred killed, services on the Central Railways were restored to normal today, officials said.
12.42 pm: Security forces and holed up terrorists exchange fire in Nariman House in south Mumbai.
12.39 pm: One terrorist holed up inside Nariman House in south Mumbai killed, says police. Six more ultras suspected to be inside the building.
12.39 pm: Dubbing the terrorists as enemies of the country, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said that terror attacks in Mumbai posed a challenge to the entire nation and would be met resolutely.
12.34 pm: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi convened an emergency meeting to review the "internal security" in the state in wake of yesterday's terror attacks in neighbouring Mumbai.
12.34 pm: Seven bodies brought out of Taj Hotel.
12.32 pm: Intelligence Bureau chief and Defence Secretary to attend the meeting called by Home Secretary.
12.18 pm: Rs 5 lakh compensation to be given to the kin of those killed in the terror attacks, says Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil. Rs 50,000 will be paid to the seriously injured.
12:16 pm: Two IL-76 aircrafts and four AN-32 aircrafts are ready to take off from Palam Airport in Delhi to assist operations going on in Mumbai.
12.14 pm: Defence Minister A K Antony calls a high-level meeting of the armed forces in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks.
12.14 pm : Airforce Brigade arrives in Mumbai.
12.13 pm : Commandos from Pune also rushing to Mumbai.
12.10 pm: Two bodies brought out of terror-struck Taj Hotel in Mumbai and taken away in an ambulance.
12.05 pm: Ten terrorists involved in the attacks are Pakistanis, sources tell Zee News.
12.04 pm: Seven British citizens have been injured in the terror attacks in Mumbai, British High Commissioner in India, Sir Richard Stag, said.
12.01 pm: At least four terrorists were holed up in the Taj Hotel where 40 to 50 guests were still trapped, says Major R K Hooda, General Officer Commanding of Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat.
11.52 am: Nine suspects have been arrested and interrogated, R R Patil said.
11.51 am: Five terrorists killed and one captured in Mumbai, says Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil outside Oberoi Hotel.
11.40 am: R R Patil refutes reports of any ransom demands being made by the terrorists holed up in the hotel. He is unsure of the exact number of hostages in the hotel. Earlier, a terrorist, identified as Sahadullah, holed up inside Mumbai's Oberoi Hotel told a news channel that he seeks release of all “Mujahideens held in India” in exchange of the freedom of hostages inside the hotel.
11.23 am: The number of injured policemen rises to 25.
11.21 am: Two top US intelligence officials are believed to be among dead in the firing at Taj hotel.
11.20 am: Army’s General Officer Commanding reaches the Oberoi on instructions from Prime Minister.
11.20 am: Commandos begin firing at Nariman House. Four terrorists thought to be holed up inside.
11.17 am: L K Advani to accompany Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during visit to terror-hit Mumbai.
11.16 am : Shots heard from the Mumbai headquarters of the ultra-orthodox Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch that was seized by the gunmen overnight.
11.15 am: A child of foreign nationality and an Indian maid seen coming out of Nariman House in South Mumbai.
11.10 am: Bush, Obama condemn Mumbai attacks; offer assistance
11.05 am: LK Advani terms the Mumbai attacks as the biggest in India. Calls for unity at the hour of crisis.
11.01 am: Shivraj Patil holds emergency meeting
10.45 am: Indian Navy’s Vice Admiral Bedi said that around 4-5 terrorists are still holed up inside the hotel, along with 40 hostages.
At around 7.30 am, NSG commandoes entered Taj to evacuate people.
Commandoes had also raided Trident Oberoi Hotel in South Mumbai to flush out terrorists holed up there. Terrorists have, reportedly, positioned themselves on the 19th floor of the Oberoi hotel.
Earlier, a bomb was also diffused this morning near Taj.
http://www.zeenews.com/nation/2008-11-27/486894news.html
Karkare’s response to a death threat: A 'smiley'
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Y P Rajesh
Posted: Nov 27, 2008 at 1637 hrs IST
Mumbai The last days of Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare were probably some of the busiest in his 26-year career in the Indian Police Service (IPS), and apparently tormented as well.
The ATS believed it had cracked the September 29 Malegaon bomb blast case, and about a month ago arrested Hindu extremists in a breakthrough that shocked the nation and added a new twist to the entire discourse on terror and religion.
But as the probe unravelled the alleged plot and the role of some Hindu leaders, the case got caught in the politics of terror and the ATS was at the centre of charges that it was being used as a tool to target the Sangh Parivar amid allegations of illegal detention and torture by some of the 11 arrested for the blast.
The BJP, RSS and VHP leaders, among others from the Hindu nationalist brigade, accused the ATS of being on a witch-hunt, with some even demanding that ATS officers be subjected to a narco-analysis to establish their motives.
No less a leader than the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, L K Advani, had demanded a change in the ATS team and a judicial inquiry into the torture allegations made by Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a key suspect in the Malegaon case.
The Shiv Sena too had come out in support of the suspects and on Wednesday had threatened in its mouthpiece Saamna that it would publish the names of some ATS officers and shame them as it said they had tortured the Malegaon suspects.
That Karkare was affected by this was apparent when we met at his office on Tuesday to get an update on the probe, less than 36 hours before he was killed. The Indian Express has decided to break the confidence of what was an off-the-record conversation in an attempt to highlight the anguish of the investigators over the currents in which the Malegaon probe was getting caught as well as the larger debate over the politics of terror.
"I don't know why this case has become so political," was one of Karkare's first comments. "The pressure is tremendous and I am wondering how to extricate it from all the politics."
Was the pressure telling on the investigation, what with someone who could be the next prime minister of the country questioning the credibility of the ATS?
"Of course," was the answer. "We are being very very careful. In fact, when we want to question a suspect and if he or she has any Hindutvawadi connections, we make sure once, twice, thrice, that we have enough reason and evidence to even question. Normally it is not like that. We are able to freely question anyone we suspect."
"In fact, immediately after the blast I had visited Malegaon along with the Deputy Chief Minister and other officials and witnessed the anger of the locals who shouted some slogans," Karkare said. "After that I told my men that we have to pursue this case very objectively and not start with assumptions that people of this community or that community could be responsible."
Originally from Madhya Pradesh, Karkare studied mechanical engineering in Nagpur and worked at the National Productivity Council and Hindustan Lever before making it to the IPS in 1982. Known to be an upright officer who served in the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) as well as the Indian mission in Vienna, Austria, as a counselor, Karkare did not hide his love for Mumbai or his discomfort with the predominantly political-bureaucratic culture of Delhi where he was posted.
During a stint in the Chandrapur forests near Nagpur in 1991 to fight Naxalites, he took an interest in driftwood, discovered artistic shapes in them and converted them into wooden sculptures, making about 150 of them over a two-year period. Talking to the media about sensitive cases such as Malegaon could prove to be a double-edged sword, he had said as we parted, adding that he would like us to meet informally once a month so that he could learn the ways of the media.
His last visuals as seen on TV showed him working with his men near the VT station, the target of one of the attacks, although it is perplexing at this point in time why such a senior officer ended up getting exposed to a brazen terrorist attack. Initially, he was shown wearing a shoddy helmet normally seen used by constables during riots. A little later, a policeman lowers a flimsy bulletproof vest over his shoulders, one that was obviously of little protection when those fatal shots were fired at him.
The previous evening, hours after our meeting, TV channels had ‘breaking news’ that he had received a fresh death threat from some unidentified caller, apparently in connection with the Malegaon probe. An Indian Express reporter SMSed him asking him if this was true or if he had anything to say. His reply: just a smiley.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Karkares-response-to-a-death-threat-A-smiley/391325/
'We could hear desperate shouts, bachao, bachao'
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Kavitha Iyer
Posted: Nov 27, 2008 at 1619 hrs IST
Mumbai Ten pm is a reasonable pack-up time, even for the city that doesn't sleep. It is the time to check what late night shows one can catch at the mall-multiplex next door, consider splurging on a gourmet meal to stave off midweek blues.
"A guy shooting madly at diners at Leo's," said the first caller. I hollered for the night reporter, Aditya, our youngest in office, and rushed him off. Some loose cannon with a gun, I told myself minutes later, despatching what I thought was the last report of the day.
At 10.10 pm, senior correspondent Prashant Rangnekar and I heard a long rat-tat-tat outside — it could have been dismissed as a long firecracker, but this is The Express Towers, located in the heart of the financial capital's business district, Nariman Point.
Wondering what sort of wedding party would burst firecrackers outside here, I walked towards the window from where I could see The Hilton, right opposite.
Prashant came with the next inputs: people running helter skelter outside, the taxi-drivers waiting for their regular long-distance drops had fled, there was firing inside The Hilton. "Some fled without their taxis," he said of the city's most dependable cabbies.
With dozens of others still in the building, many management professionals and bankers working late, security guards, journalists, labourers on the night-shift, I walked down the stairs. There was chaos outside the plush hotel, groups of people huddled around on the pavement opposite, our security guards trying to seal the building entrance, followed by the wail of police vans and ambulances.
"Soon after I saw one body being taken out in a car. Three more bodies were then taken away in a police van," Prashant reported. We saw frightened hotel staffers crying as they described the scene inside to lathi-wielding policemen — among the dead were the security staffers of the hotel.
The street was almost deserted for the next few minutes. But even as Prashant walked on the pavement trying to find eye-witnesses, anybody who could make sense of what television had already put out as a gang war, the Goenka Marg filled with onlookers once again. While policemen and guards tried to warn people off, I climbed three floors to the Express lawn, a vantage point to see what was happening at The Hilton.
Glass windows in the upper floors of the Trident were being shattered. "Bachao Bachao," we could hear desperate shouts, nearly 400 metres away.
That's when the calls of other attacks — at VT, at Cama Hospital, at Metro cinema junction, began to come in. Even as phones were ringing off the hook as informants, well-wishers, parents, friends, readers called in, colleagues warned us off the lawn.
As I turned, an explosion rocked the building, followed minutes later by another. We could see smoke going up in the distance, hear more panicked wails. More firemen were running in, an ambulance was backing up to the farther gate, more sirens as, finally, the last few onlookers moved out of the way.
It was quiet for a few minutes. Till news from other parts of the city began to come in.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/We-could-hear-desperate-shouts-bachao-bachao/391422/
Hotel residents talk of chaos, panic and blood all over
27 Nov 2008, 1823 hrs IST, IANS
NEW YORK: Manuela Testonili, ex-wife of American pop singer Prince, was among those who along with 200 others were stuck in the dark ballroom of
the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel for several hours, when terror struck Mumbai late Wednesday night.
"We left everything behind, including purses and phones. There was a lot of panic," she said.
New York-based filmmaker Smriti Mundhra and her parents, who were staying in an apartment near Oberoi hotel, when the attack happened, told CNN that they were all safe. They were given instructions by the police to stay at home with the doors locked and away from windows.
"Just as we were getting ready for bed last night, I heard a little bit of commotion on the street and some police sirens and didn't really think much of it, then my parents came in and told me something was going on in the neighbourhood. So we watched the news and realized essentially there's a terrorist attack happening just outside our door," Mundhra said.
Held up in his room at the Taj Mahal hotel, British lawmaker Mark Abell told media that when he came back from dinner Wednesday night the security fences weren't operating. "The hotel shook with an immense blast. Three or four minutes later, there was another large blast, the whole building shaking."
As he looked outside, Abell saw the crowd running. "It was chaos, gunshots, it looked all very, very nasty," Abell said.
Yasmin Wong, a CNN employee who was staying in the Taj, told the news network that she hid under her bed for several hours after she was awoken by gunfire. Wong said she received a phone call from the hotel telling her to turn her light off, put a wet towel by the door and stay in her room until she was told otherwise, CNN reported.
Peter Keep, a Mumbai-based entrepreneur told Wall Street Journal as he saw fire engulfing the Taj hotel. "It's familiar, it's iconic and even if it represents nothing more than a beautiful old building to see it ablaze like that is just shocking," he said.
Farhang Jehani, owner of the Café Leopold was lucky to have survived the shootout inside his restaurant Wednesday night as terrorists killed people.
Between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m. Wednesday night, two gunmen who appeared to be in their mid 20s pull out machine guns and opened fire on the restaurant full of evening dinners. The crowd scattered but more than 10 people were shot, he said.
"There is blood all over and not one table is standing. They are all upside down," he told The Wall Street Journal.
Noriyuki Kanda, sushi chef at the Wasabi restaurant in the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, was holed up in the hotel for more than 12 hours. He told the Journal over phone from Mumbai he was working when he heard a lot of noise.
"I had only heard gunfire on television before so we weren't sure what it was. Then we heard rapid fire like a machine gun and people rushed in from the bar downstairs and said that four men were shooting people in the lobby," he said.
Kanda and his staff led the customers through the kitchen and the back hallways for employees, some of which were filled with smoke.
MPs recall night of horror in Mumbai's Taj hotel
New Delhi (PTI/IANS): It was a night without end for Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) MP N.N. Krishnadas who was having dinner at the Taj hotel in Mumbai when masked militants barged in.
The Lok Sabha MP from Kerala, who was rescued by commandoes on Thursday morning, lived to tell his tale of horror following Mumbai's worst terror attack.
Bhupendrasinh Solanki, BJP MP from Godhra in Gujarat, N N Krishnadas of CPI(M) from Palghat in Kerala, Mani Tripathi, a BSP parliamentarian from Uttar Pradesh and one more MP from Maharashtra were visiting the metropolis as members of the Parliamentary Committee on Subordinate Legislation.
"I was having dinner with some of my colleagues when two masked militants barged into the restaurant. They fired indiscriminately, I saw three people being shot. The terrorists left the room soon after that," Krishnadas told IANS over the phone from Mumbai.
Recalling the nightmare at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, one of Mumbai's most identifiable landmarks and one of the seven places attacked by terrorists Wednesday night, he said: "The hotel staff rushed us into another room after the terroists moved out of the restaurant."
"We stayed there through the night. In the morning, commandos rescued us," he said.
Solanki, who also witnessed the 2001 Parliament attack, said he had checked into the hotel at around 6 pm along with 15 officials and the MPs and came down to the ground floor from the room three hours later to have dinner.
"We were in the dining hall at Taj hotel. All of a sudden some terrorists came in and started firing. I heard the loud sound of blasts and bullets," Solanki told PTI.
He said the firing was rapid and they mistook it for crackers.
"The waiters told us that it seemed to be a terrorist attack. The senior staff then took all of us to the back of the hotel. We were in the swimming pool area and were asked to lie on the ground".
Solanki said all the MPs and Parliamentary officials were holed up on the floor for some 60 to 80 minutes before being taken to safety through a rear door of the hotel.
"I left the hotel at around 11 pm. Then I was taken to nearby police station and spent the whole night there. I was present when the terrorists attacked Parliament on December 13, 2001 but I think it is the biggest terror attack in the country," he said.
US convenes counter-terrorism meeting after Mumbai attacks
Washington (PTI): Top US intelligence and counter-terrorism officials held a meeting at the White House as Washington conveyed to New Delhi that it stood ready to help in the wake of "horrific" terror attacks in Mumbai.
"A meeting was held at the White House of National Security Council and officials from counter-terrorism and intelligence agencies as well as the State and Defence departments," the White House said in a statement.
"The US government continues to monitor the situation closely," a White House spokesman said.
"This includes the safety and security of our citizens, and we stand ready to assist and support the Indian government," the statement said.
Gunmen were like young 'boys', say eyewitnesses
Mumbai (PTI): With Indian intelligence and security agencies still groping to identify the terrorists who have struck at the country's financial capital, three Australian victims have now come out describing them as "young boys."
The description came from two young Australian tourists, David Coker (23) and his partner Katie Anstee (24), who were among the first to come face-to-face with the terrorists in metropolis' famous bar 'afe Leopold' in Colaba.
"They looked just like boys and they were on a rampage -- It's a full-on."
David and Katie have arrived in the city to celebrate their graduation and they went to eat at Leopold, when terrorists struck.
"We have just sat down for dinner ordering food when it seemed fire crackers were blowing up all around us and people were screaming," the duo told the Sydney's Courier-Mail newspaper telephonically.
Katie was shot in the leg with the bullet breaking her femur while David was grazed by bullet and both had to flee.
David said, he had to virtually carry her girlfriend as she couldn't move.
"We got into a taxi which took us to Bombay hospital. We were, I think, the first people at hospital, which is where we are now," they said.
Another Australian TV actress Brooke Satchwell also had a harrowing ordeal to tell of her confrontation with another group of terrorist boys in the city's landmark Taj hotel.
Satchwell hid herself in a two-by-three metre cupboard for an hour to escape death.
Industrialist Gautam Adani in Taj during terror attack
Ahmedabad (PTI): Adani group Chairman Gautam Adani, who was in a restaurant at Taj Hotel in south Mumbai when the armed terrorists attacked the hotel, described it as the "most horrible experience of his life."
"We were having dinner at the Chambers' Wednesday evening which is a restaurant on the first floor of Taj," Adani told PTI.
There were around 150 people in the restaurant at the time of attack and all were holed up for more than two hours, he said.
"After two hours, we were rescued and taken out by the army commandos," he said, adding that all the people who were at the Chambers' were taken out safely by the army.
Australian killed in Mumbai terror attacks
Mumbai (PTI): An Australian is among those killed in the Mumbai terror attacks, hospital sources said on Thursday.
Forty-nine-year-old Braid Gilbert Taylor was brought to St George's Hospital in South Mumbai late Wednesday night. He was declared brought dead on arrival, they said.
They, however, did not have information as to from where the foreigner was brought to the hospital. Taylor's body has been sent for a post-mortem.
Key developments in the Mumbai terror attack
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits JJ Hospital to enquire about the condition of those injured in the terror attacks (At 9.30 pm)
Another explosion in the first floor of the old building of Taj hotel and several rounds of gunshot heard. Military personnel taking position around the hotel.
Another grenade blast in Trident (Oberoi) hotel (At 9 pm)
Taj Hotels GM's wife, children killed in terrorist attack
Terrorist attacks happened due to intelligence failure, says Leader of Opposition L K Advani.
UK sending anti-terrorism experts to Mumbai: Brown
Home Minister Shivraj Patil must go: Bardhan
Fire at Trident (Oberoi) hotel (At 8 pm)
Mumbai attacks had some al-Qaeda hallmarks: Britain
Indian naval official will not rule out Somali pirates' role
At least 7 hostages rescued from Oberoi hotel. (At 7 pm)
Seven terrorists killed in Mumbai, says Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.
Railway ADGP K. P. Raghuvanshi given temporary charge of ATS. (At 6 pm)
The groups behind attacks in Mumbai are based outside the country, says Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Multiple explosions heard at old building of Taj Hotel.
Thirty five people held as hostages inside Oberoi Hotel. (At 5.30 pm)
Indian Navy locates the ship M V Alpha used by the terrorists
Third grenade blast heard from Trident Hotel
Jewish priest Gabriel among hostages held at Nariman House, police say. (At 5 pm)
Explosions heard inside Taj hotel also.
Grenade blast heard from Nariman House, where 6 terrorists are holed up.
9 foreigners among 101 killed in Mumbai terror attacks
All people trapped in Taj Hotel rescued, says DGP A.N.Roy.
200 more NSG commandos being sent to Mumbai: NSG spokesperson.
Hand-grenades lobbed from Oberoi Hotel.
Security forces and holed up terrorists exchange fire in Nariman House. One terrorist killed, 6 more ultras suspected to be inside the building, says police.
Maharashtra government annonces Rs 5 lakh compensation to the kin of those killed in the terror attacks. Rs 50,000 will be paid to the seriously injured.
Defence Minister A K Antony calls a high-level meeting of the armed forces in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks.
Two bodies brought out of terror-struck Taj Hotel in Mumbai and taken away in an ambulance.
Five terrorists killed and one captured in Mumbai, says Maharashtra Dy CM R.R. Patil.
Four to five terrorists are suspected to be holed up inside Nariman House, says Police.
Advani to accompany Manmohan Singh during visit to terror-hit Mumbai.
Mumbai police did not have prior inputs about terror attacks, says R.R. Patil.
NSG commandos reach Trident Hotel to flush out terrorists.
Maharashtra Cabinet to meet at 2 pm in backdrop of terror attacks on Mumbai; all-party meet at 3 pm.
NSG commandos launch operation at Nariman House.
Major General R K Hooda, General Officer Commanding of Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat, reaches Trident Hotel.
Death toll in Mumbai terror attacks reaches around 100.
Firing at Nariman House in South Mumbai intensifies; window panes on third and fifth floor shattered.
Two terrorists shot dead at Taj Mahal Hotel. Two continue to be holed up, police says.
Schools and colleges in Mumbai to remain closed today.
Firing heard near Nariman House in Colaba; police cordon off area amid reports that terrorists are holed up in the building.
Fresh rounds of gunfire heard from in
BJP decides not to name Karkare in official statement
New Delhi (PTI): Having attacked Mumbai ATS' probe into Malegaon blast, the BJP on Thursday decided not to mention the name of investigating agency chief Hemant Karkare or any other police personnel who were killed in terror attacks in Mumbai late Wednesday.
At an hour-long meeting in Mumbai on Thursday, the party top brass is understood to have deliberated on the issue of whether to name Karkare in the party's official statement containing its stand on the terror attacks and decided in favour of not naming any of policemen killed in the attacks.
The meeting came after a statement issued by L K Advani from his residence early in the morning had mentioned all three senior officers of Mumbai police Karkare, Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar, who were killed, along with Delhi Police inspector M C Sharma who died in an encounter with suspected terrorists in Delhi.
The BJP has accused Mumbai ATS of being unprofessional, politically motivated and acting on government orders to frame sadhvi Pragnya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Purohit in Malegaon blast case.
As per sources, the top brass meeting had "several views against the mention of specific names and was finally decided to drop the names from the official release."
Ratan Tata calls for national unity
New Delhi (PTI): Strongly condemning the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, business conglomerate Tata Group's head Ratan Tata on Thursday urged the nation to remain united to beat the divisive forces.
"We must show that we cannot be disabled or destroyed, but that such henious acts will only make us stronger. It is important that we do not allow divisive forces to weaken us. We need to overcome these forces as one strong unified nation," Tata said in a statement.
Condoling the loss of life in separate terror attacks, including on the Taj Hotel, owned by the Tata Group, he said, "We cannot replace the lives that have been lost and we will never forget the terrifying events of last night. But we must stand together shoulder-to-shoulder as citizens of India and rebuild what has been destroyed."
He also said the "terrible wanton" attacks on innocent people and destruction of prominent landmarks in India deserve to be condemned.
"My sympathy and condolences go out to all those who have suffered, being injured and those who have lost their loved ones in this terrible act of hatred and destruction," Tata said.
The Taj Hotel in Mumbai was one of the targets of terror attacks in which over 100 people were killed and as many were taken as hostages.
Terror in Mumbai
India under attack
Nov 27th 2008 | MUMBAI
From The Economist print edition
A terrorist onslaught of stunning scope and horror
Reuters
THE sheer scale and audacity of the assault were staggering. Gangs of well-armed youths attacked two luxury hotels, a restaurant, a railway station and at least one hospital. Gunfire and explosions rang through Mumbai overnight on November 26th-27th and through the next morning. As The Economist went to press, more than 100 people were reported to have been killed, and the toll seemed likely to rise. Several foreigners, including some from America, Japan and Britain, were among the dead. So were over a dozen policemen, including Mumbai’s chief counter-terrorism officer. Up to 100 hostages, including selected American and British guests, were alleged to be held hostage inside a hotel.
Even in a city—and country—with a grim record of terrorist violence, these were extraordinary scenes. The attacks started at around 10.30pm on November 27th, when gunmen started shooting and throwing grenades at Mumbai’s main Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station. Television footage showed two men shooting at random as they drove through nearby streets in a stolen police jeep.
Around the same time, a bomb was reported to have exploded in a taxi parked near the city’s main airport. More or less simultaneously, gunmen speaking Hindi and Urdu, the language of many north-Indian Muslims and of neighbouring Pakistan, stormed two hotels—the Taj Mahal and the Trident Oberoi—and Café Leopold, a restaurant popular with tourists. Police outside the Taj Mahal, India’s most famous hotel, lapped by the Arabian Sea, said gunmen arrived there by inflatable dinghy. In the early hours, a gunfight erupted on Marine Drive, the scenic coastal road seen in so many Bollywood films, in which another Mumbai police chief was killed.
As dawn broke, flames were rising from the domed roof of the Taj Mahal. Navy and army commandos, who had retaken the hotel’s lower floors and killed two terrorists, reported bodies in many rooms and perhaps half a dozen terrorists still living. A trickle of terrified employees and guests, some with gunshot wounds, continued to flee the building. One fugitive, Amit, a hotel-restaurant manager, said his chef had been hit by three bullets and many colleagues remained inside. A few badly injured survivors were wheeled from the hotel on brass luggage-trolleys. By midday on November 28th most of the hostages were reported to have been released from the hotel, although there were reports of further shooting.
Meanwhile at the nearby Trident Oberoi, as many as 100 hostages were reported still to be held. Gunfire and explosions were reported from the upper storeys of the building.
There seemed little doubt that the attackers were Muslim militants of some description, but their exact provenance was unclear. Responsibility was claimed by a previously little-known group called the Deccan Mujahideen. Speaking to Indian television by telephone, a gunman holding hostages in the Trident Oberoi demanded that Muslim prisoners, including those captured in Kashmir, should be released from Indian jails. “Release all the mujahideens, and Muslims living in India should not be troubled,” he said.
In the past five months India has suffered from a spate of Islamist militancy, with bomb-blasts in half a dozen cities, including Delhi, Bangalore and Jaipur. A home-grown Muslim terrorist group, the Indian Mujahideen, has been blamed for the spree, in which over 150 people were killed. In a chilling, 14-page admission of responsibility for the Delhi bombings in September, the Indian Mujahideen castigated the counter-terrorism efforts of Mumbai’s police, and promised Mumbaikars future “deadly attacks”.
As India’s first indigenous Muslim terrorist group—so they have often been described—the Indian Mujahideen are a worrying sign. They seem to have evolved from a decade-long campaign by Pakistan-based militants, including many fighting an insurgency in Kashmir, to incite India’s 150m Muslims to revolt. These groups have been held primarily responsible for half a dozen major terrorist attacks in Mumbai in recent years. In 1993 local Muslim gangsters backed by Pakistan-based militants set off 13 near-simultaneous bomb-blasts in the city, killing more than 250 people. In 2006 another co-ordinated bombing spree on Mumbai’s railway killed over 180 commuters. A Pakistan-based group, Lashkar-e-Toiba, was blamed at the time.
This week’s attacks in Mumbai seemed different, however. Attacks by bands of gunmen on numerous targets, instead of the mere laying of bombs, and the seizure of so many hostages, led to speculation, unsupported by evidence, that local militants in India could not have mounted the attacks without considerable foreign help. And the targets chosen—world-famous hotels and Western tourists—were a new phenomenon for India, despite being a pattern familiar from attacks directed or inspired by al-Qaeda elsewhere in the world.
Al-Qaeda has often threatened to launch strikes in India. In 2006 Arab terrorists belonging to the organisation were foiled in an attempt to set off bombs in Goa, India’s main destination for foreign tourists. Among the targets of the latest attacks was a Jewish religious centre in southern Mumbai which was reported to have been fired on by the gunmen. Police said that an Israeli rabbi and his family were among a group being held as hostages in a nearby apartment block.
Despite these worrying signs, Indian officials have so far resisted suggestions that Indian Muslims are being radicalised and joining a global jihad. Many refer approvingly to the observation of George Bush that Muslims from India have not in general turned up to fight the infidels on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. But security analysts have meanwhile despaired at the unpreparedness of India’s security agencies to counter a domestic Islamist threat. Whether or not al-Qaeda was behind the latest attack, that happy complacency must now have ended.
http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12708194
Terrorism expert says India must revise counter-terrorism policy
By Augustine Anthuvan, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 27 November 2008 2342 hrs
SINGAPORE: International terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna said the multiple assaults on Mumbai late Wednesday are "watershed attacks".
Professor Gunaratna, who heads the Singapore-based International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said that unless the Indian government takes this threat seriously and takes decisive action, the threat of terrorism will definitely grow in India.
Gunmen from the little-known Deccan Mujahedeen group had claimed responsibility for the attacks, which have killed at least 100 people.
Professor Gunaratna said 'Deccan Mujahideen' is simply a front name that the Indian Mujahideen uses. Indian Mujahideen originates from a group called SIMI – Student Islamic Movement of India – and its members are Indian nationals who have been inspired and influenced by the Al-Qaeda.
He said: "The quality of this attack showed that the Indian Mujahideen is a very capable organisation. Certainly, it has planned this attack very carefully and attacks of this scale will mount in the future.
"The only way to prevent that, the only way to reduce the threat is to develop high-quality, high-grade intelligence on these groups, on the individuals, and to detect and disrupt those organisations – either to incarcerate or kill those individual leaders.
"Unless that is done, the threat of terrorism will grow in India. So India must rethink, must totally revise its counter terrorism policy and strategy as a result of this attack."
On the group's mode of operation, Professor Gunaratna said: "The terrorist attack was exceptionally well planned. They would have studied their targets very carefully. And in fact, what we are seeing is that the terrorists have invested very significant amount of time planning and preparing the attack.
"It is an Al-Qaeda style attack... the timing was perfect. And in many ways, the group is being inspired by Al-Qaeda, in terms of methodology and also in terms of target selection because they selected high-profile, symbolic and strategic targets."
The professor said the terrorists are out to instil fear within the Indian government and the Indian society. By selecting a range of targets from hospital to luxury hotels, they showed that they could attack multiple targets at any given time.
Reports have said that the Deccan or Indian Mujahideen wanted to end the persecution of Indian Muslims whom they think are being ill treated, and in extreme cases killed by the Indian government and by the Hindus.
The professor said there is no truth in that as the Indian people have treated their minorities reasonably well. He added that the Indian Mujahideen members have been driven by a misperception – a deviant and heretical doctrine.
Professor Gunaratna also believes that the Indian forces are capable enough to handle the situation and the international community should allow the country to resolve the crisis on its own.
- CNA/so
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southasia/view/392731/1/.html
Obama says India's democracy will win over terrorism
27 Nov 2008, 2041 hrs IST, Chidanand Rajghatta, TNN
WASHINGTON: India’s democracy "will prove far more resilient than the hateful ideology that led to these attacks" in Mumbai, U.S President-elect
Barack Obama said on Wednesday as the world reached out to India in sympathy and support over what American analysts described as "India’s 9/11."
Both the incumbent Bush administration and Obama and his transition team sent out strong messages of condemnation of the attacks and their backing for India even as they coordinated their response in the transition phase in the United States.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice briefed Obama -- working out of Chicago -- over the phone as the White House assembled its national security and intelligence chiefs for discussion and analysis and offered India any help it required.
From Chicago, Obama also spoke to India’s ambassador Ronen Sen, to convey that his thoughts and prayers with those affected by "this tragic situation" and brief him about his conversations with Rice.
"These coordinated attacks on innocent civilians demonstrate the grave and urgent threat of terrorism. The U.S must continue to strengthen our partnerships with India and nations around the world to root out and destroy terrorist networks," Obama said in a statement issued through his national security spokesperson, Brooke Anderson.
In comments that extolled India’s institutional strength and was directed against the fundamentalist mindset in the neighborhood, Obama also predicted the triumph of democracy over the sickening ideology of extremism even as terrorists/mujaheddin earned universal disgust over the attack of Indian civilians and foreign nationals.
Audiences in the U.S remained glued to coverage of the Mumbai massacre more than 24 hours after the carnage began as it got wall-to-wall TV time on a long Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
For administration and security officials, that long weekend had already been disrupted by a mid-week security alert that spoke of possible terrorist attacks on New York’s Penn Station and other mass transit systems in the region; but the bloodbath occurred 10,000 miles away in Mumbai’s most famous landmarks.
The involvement of westerners, including Americans, Britons and Israelis as victims and hostages in the ordeal also ensured greater and more sustained coverage than usual, with U.S experts trying to connect the dots and link the attack to Kashmir and Al Qaeda, and its possible repercussions on United States.
In fact, there was little or no surprise over the attacks given both the alert in New York and the prediction by foreign policy experts, including vice-president elect Joe Biden, that Obama could be tested by terrorist attacks early in his presidency or during the transition phase.
U.S analysts mulled over the larger implications of the attack that seemed to also target westerners while suggesting that this was not a localized attack arising from home-grown militancy in India.
"The apparent focus on killing or capturing foreign businesspeople, specifically US and UK nationals, has never occurred before, suggesting a wider global anti-Western agenda. This stands in contrast to the national issues that appeared to motivate Indian Mujahideen," Jane’s Intelligence, said in a brief update on the crisis.
In Washington, the US State Department put out a hotline number (1-888-407-4747) to enable U.S. citizens concerned about the well-being of friends and family in India to get information and updates. A travel advisory cautioning against travel to India was expected later in the day.
However, the Indian government did itself little credit with long periods of silence during a chaotic situation. There were no Indian spokespersons available out of New Delhi or Mumbai for the world media is get a coherent account of what was happening even 24 hours after the crisis erupted.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/USA/Obama_says_Indias_democracy_will_win_over_terrorism/articleshow/3762125.cms
Attacks to Set Back Mumbai's Financial Ambitions
Wall Street Journal - 52 minutes ago
By GEETA ANAND and JACKIE RANGE Mumbai boasted some of the most expensive real estate in the world last year and the giant Indian city had ambitions to become an international financial capital to rival Hong Kong and Singapore.
Analysis - Mumbai attacks may hasten India rate cuts Reuters India
‘Attacks not to impact banking operations’ Hindu Business Line
IFFI: Terror attack in Mumbai mars proceedings on Day 5
Zee News - 3 hours ago
Panaji, Nov 27: The unprecedented terror attacks in Mumbai today cast its shadow on the ongoing International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2008 in Panaji as security was enhanced in theatres and hotels and the incidents replaced films as the topic in ...
K Manju represents Kannada film at IFFI-2008 Oneindia
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Zardari speaks to Sonia, wants joint fight against terror
Hindu - 1 hour ago
Islamabad (PTI): Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari today told Congress President Sonia Gandhi that countries needed to work together to eliminate militancy and extremism in all forms and manifestations.
Pakistan offers support to India in probing Mumbai terror attacks Newspost Online
Pakistan Foreign minister condemns Mumbai terror attack PunjabNewsline.com
Economic Times - Times of India - Deccan Herald - The Associated Press
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Ottawa, November 16, 2001
2001-105
Globalization, Terrorism and the World Economy
Speech by the Honourable Paul Martin, Minister of Finance for Canada, at a luncheon organized by the Reinventing Bretton Woods Committee and The Conference Board of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
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Allow me to begin these remarks by saying how pleased I am to join you here today, and how grateful I am to The Conference Board of Canada and the Reinventing Bretton Woods Committee for co-sponsoring today’s luncheon. The work of Reinventing Bretton Woods – the search for strengthened international mechanisms to foster growth and prosperity – has become even more critical in the wake of the tragic events of September 11th.
Indeed, it is in the long shadow of those terrible acts that Canada will, later today and through the weekend, play host to the G-20 as well as the meetings of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Development Committee of the IMF and the World Bank. These are tables which bridge the divide between east and west, north and south, rich and poor.
Let me say, therefore, how proud I am that Canada was able, in such difficult circumstances and at such short notice, to ensure that all of these meetings could take place. I am indebted to the city of Ottawa and its mayor for ensuring that they can proceed safely and effectively. Mayor Chiarelli is here with us today, and I would ask you to join me in recognizing him.
The finance ministers and central bankers at this weekend’s meetings come together at a difficult and challenging time. What do we hope to accomplish in the next two days of meetings? We have three objectives.
First, to deal with the economic impact of September 11th, especially in light of the global nature of the slowdown that preceded the terrible attack on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.
Second, to agree upon a global action plan to combat terrorist financing.
And third, to ignite the process of making globalization work for all – and for the poorest of the poor in particular.
Clearly, September 11th was an act of brutality that left the world first in shock, then in anger – an act of sudden violence that without warning stole a parent from 10,000 children and that shattered the illusion that we in North America are somehow insulated from external attack.
In response, we have borne witness to an uncompromising resolve that more than matches the initial shock. The world has come together in an uncommon and irrevocable commitment to eliminate the threat of terrorism. The physical assault levelled against us is being met by an international coalition of nations, faiths and force that will not fail.
For each of us September 11th was, above all, a tragedy in human terms. For the terrorists, however, the aim of their criminal act was not only the destruction of life – they were seeking to destroy our way of life. The terrorists did not choose their targets randomly. New York’s World Trade Center stood at the heart of the international financial district. It was a symbol of accomplishment and confidence. It was targeted for that reason. The terrorists sought to cripple economic activity, to paralyze financial relations, to create new barriers between economies, countries and people.
Our goal in response must be even more direct and even more purposeful. It must be to deny those who traffic in terrorism and hate advantage in any measure and in any theatre, be it military or economic.
For the major industrial nations, the slowdown we are experiencing is a matter of real concern. For developing and emerging economies, however, the consequences could well be devastating. Jobs might not just be lost temporarily, they could disappear forever. Incomes might not just fall, they could vanish for good.
Let us be clear, it is the poor primarily who bear the long-term consequences of terrorism. For this reason, all of us must dedicate ourselves to the cause of economic security, just as surely as we have dedicated ourselves to the cause of physical security. In that context, there are considerable grounds for optimism.
First, strong fiscal and economic policies have left most industrial nations better positioned to withstand economic turbulence than they have been in many years, even many decades.
Second, central banks have moved rapidly to maintain liquidity in markets and to bring interest rates down.
And third, the IMF, the World Bank and other international institutions stand ready to provide resources to help those most in need.
That being said, however, if we are to translate all of this into widespread economic recovery, a greater effort than that generated so far will be required, one that gathers countries in common cause and coordinated approach. Now is not the time for defeatism, but neither is it a time for rose-coloured glasses. The campaign for economic security must involve a swift and steady response to new realities.
Part of the terrorist agenda is to see governments turn borders into barriers – to erect walls behind which people live in fear and economies stagnate. To retreat from today’s integrated world economy would be a terrible mistake. It would be to concede victory to criminals. And we cannot allow this to happen. For decades nations – large and small, rich and poor – have laboured to promote a freer and more orderly flow of goods and services throughout the world. Why? Because doing so is crucial to the development of their economies and the well-being of their people. The fact is, we are all sovereign nations, but our relations are intertwined, our fortunes are linked, and our economies are interdependent.
The Canada-U.S. border is a perfect case in point. Every single day roughly $2 billion worth of trade takes place between us. And millions of families in both countries depend on that trade for their livelihood. The notion, therefore, that by slowing our borders to commerce we might somehow close our countries to risk is mistaken – it is a non-choice.
For this reason, the governments of Canada and the United States, through the use of new technologies and as importantly, innovative approaches, must work to make our border both more secure and more open. It is not simply a question of getting back to normal. It is recognizing that in the era of "just in time" inventory, what was normal between our two countries is no longer good enough. And for the world as a whole, the solution begins with the warning that while security of people must be our priority, we must not allow security of borders to become the new non-tariff barrier.
The second objective of this weekend’s meetings is the very specific task of shutting down terrorist financing. There exists today an overwhelming consensus on the need to wrest from the grip of terrorists the funding they rely upon to finance their violence. Without money they cannot buy weapons. Without cash they cannot fuel their cause.
It stands, therefore, that part of the coordinated war against terrorism is an equally comprehensive assault on its finances. This must include the formal networks terrorists rely upon directly, and just as importantly, the informal networks they rely upon less visibly. By definition, this implies a high degree of coordination between sovereign governments. There must be a commonality to our approach and a symmetry to our means. Governments must act on a national level, as Canada has with the introduction of its comprehensive anti-terrorism legislation. But so too, governments must tailor their measures to international practices. Otherwise, blood money will simply shop jurisdictions until it finds an accommodating home.
Therefore, at the heart of the G-20’s agenda this weekend will be an action plan to present a common front and a coordinated effort against terrorist financing.
First, we will be asking member countries to implement all relevant UN resolutions and conventions quickly so that they can freeze terrorist assets immediately and track attempts to move them internationally.
Second, we will ask all G-20 nations to ensure rapid compliance with international standards to combat terrorist financing and step up efforts to share information.
Third, we will ask that all G-20 members reach out to others in their regions to ensure that the fight against those who would finance terror is extended to every country, without exception.
And fourth, we will ask those G-20 members in a position to do so to provide financial assistance and training to countries lacking the resources or expertise necessary to implement effective measures against terrorist financing.
At the heart of this last point is the recognition that tracking networks of terrorist funding is a challenge for the most powerful countries on earth. Imagine, therefore, how overwhelmed small or impoverished states will find the task without financial and technical assistance. Canada has helped in this respect in the past. Just last week CARTAC – the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre – was inaugurated with the help of $8 million that Canada committed earlier this year. As further needs emerge, we will do more.
This, then, brings me to the third objective of our meetings: making globalization work – that is to say, coming to grips with the manner in which we organize ourselves as a world economy and bringing a sense of urgency to the task of reforming the world’s economic architecture.
Globalization is not the source of the world’s inequities. Nor, however, does globalization without development represent a panacea, automatically enriching the lives of those who fling their borders open to international trade and capital.
Economic growth is an essential precondition to the alleviation of poverty, and globalization can be a tremendous force for good. But in the end Canada’s argument has been that globalization is what we make of it. The choice is all of ours. Fundamentally, the answer lies in how we choose to govern ourselves as an international community. While there has been no disagreement on the ultimate goal – making globalization work and finding global solutions to both global and national challenges – there has been an ongoing debate about the best way of getting there.
Some have argued that we should continue to operate on a case-by-case basis, taking on each challenge only as it emerges. We have argued that such an approach is just not good enough for the 21st century. In this respect, Canada has advocated the development of new structures and sinews that would permit the world’s economy to better serve the interests of the world’s people – all the world’s people. We have argued that what is needed is a better-coordinated framework of laws and approaches – equally effective in bilateral, regional and multilateral fora.
And the fact is, progress is being made. For instance, at the centre of the 1997 Asian crisis was the failure of regulatory and oversight mechanisms in some countries to keep pace with the modern reality of international capital flows. In the absence of transparent reporting and regulation, uncertainty became volatility and volatility quickly became panic, transforming massive inflows into massive outflows – leaving the economic livelihood of millions devastated in its wake.
In the face of that crisis, Canada and others became even more passionate advocates for a new set of rules to make markets work. This has led to coordinated financial measures, nationally and internationally, focused on increased transparency, stronger oversight, shared standards and common practices. It has forced the establishment of new rules and new architecture such as the Financial Stability Forum, the reformed IMFC and the G-20.
Clearly, progress has been made. However, much more needs to be realized. For example, the current slowdown has underscored the need for a better framework to address challenges such as the rescheduling of sovereign debt. We need new rules of the game that would allow the international community to find solutions for debt problems in a timely way and with a minimum of social disruption. Three years ago Canada suggested that internationally sanctioned suspensions of debt payments – or standstills – could be a key part of a better framework. After some initial resistance the balance of opinion is shifting our way.
But now the time has come to move beyond theoretical agreement. Let us accept that mandated standstills can play the same role internationally that Canada’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act or the U.S.’s Chapter 11 plays domestically; and let us now work on the mechanisms needed to make them real. The obstacle that we have to overcome in all of this is that the current set of rules and the existing structures we have built to manage the international economy quite simply have failed to keep pace with evolving reality.
Well, muddling through might have worked before September 11th, but not after. The battle against terrorism is unlike any other we have previously seen. It will be fought on many fronts. It will be waged not just with military means, but with banking controls, police actions and intelligence operations. Above all else, it will be waged in partnership, requiring a degree of global cooperation that exceeds anything that we have witnessed so far.
The fact is that on September 12th we woke up to a world more vulnerable than we had ever contemplated – one in which the voices of the few became the chorus of the many, saying now more than ever we, as a community of nations, must act in concert because no country acting alone can ensure the safety of its families to the extent that it can acting collectively.
The point is, if this is true in fighting terrorism, it is also true in setting up the structures to make international markets work effectively so that crises do not destroy livelihoods. And to take that logic one crucial step further, if September 11th leads to a rules-based approach to making international markets work better, such as we have domestically, it should also lead to an understanding of the need to round off the international markets’ hard edges, such as we have domestically.
Making globalization work requires more than the management of financial crises. Just ask the finance ministers from the developing economies. They recognize the importance of strengthening the international financial system. They know it will provide them with long-term economic opportunity. But at the same time, they are fighting every day to overcome challenges that are even more immediate and even more basic – such as disease, lack of housing, hospitals and schools, proper drinking water and sewage systems. Their point to the industrialized countries is: help us to meet these challenges so that we can help you manage those associated with making markets work.
The fact is, no country can develop its economic potential without meeting the basic needs of its people. This perspective has been embraced in the Montreal Consensus – the product of last year’s meeting of the G-20. The question now is whether September 11th will act as catalyst or counterweight to this cause. For Canada’s part, the answer is clear: now more than ever the challenge of globalization must be met. For billions of people, the greatest danger has not been that globalization will succeed – but rather that it will fail. Now more than ever we must redouble our commitment to strengthening the world economy, but also to strengthening the ties that bind us together as a community of nations.
Our task will not be a simple one. There will be a natural instinct on the part of many to retreat unto themselves – to achieve greater security through isolation; to reach out less vigorously and less widely than they otherwise might.
Well, nothing could be more self-defeating. Our interests are simply too shared to suddenly sever. Any sense of security that was grounded in a world less open and less interdependent would be illusory. It would not be a triumph over terrorism. It would mean surrendering to the forces that would divide us. Yes, we must protect our interests. But we must do so by raising standards, not by raising walls.
What might this mean?
Well, it certainly means putting an end to terrorism and bringing those who practise it to justice.
As well, however, it should mean lifting the crushing burden of debt from the shoulders of the poorest of the poor.
It should mean helping the next generation of African children to gain access to proper health care and a decent education.
It should mean that massive agricultural subsidies by those with the deepest pockets, that distort markets, that shut the door on imports, are incompatible with a world of rules and fairness.
It should mean ensuring that the new round of multilateral trade negotiations just launched lives up to its billing as the "Doha Development Agenda."
In terms of this weekend’s meetings, our message must be unequivocal: economies cannot withdraw their links; we must make them stronger still. International and multilateral tools cannot be laid aside; we must take them up as never before.
By going ahead with our meetings this weekend we are sending a clear and unambiguous message to the terrorists – a message that is as simple as it is straightforward: we will neither be silenced nor sidelined. As a world, we will continue to work together, large countries and small, to make the global community a more secure and more prosperous place for all.
In the aftermath of September 11th there exists a developing consensus and I believe a newly formed political will. Our objective now should be to put that will to work without pause. The time has come to take great strides in the place of small steps.
Such ambition is bold, but not without precedent. We saw it in the aftermath of the trauma that was the Second World War, when an entire generation decided it was time to change the world. They did so with a decisive victory, with post-war reconstruction and with the creation of the Bretton Woods Institutions.
Well, the time has come once again to follow their example – to let the greatest generation inspire us once more, to challenge conventional wisdom and inertia, to vanquish despair and to replace it with real and lasting hope.
http://www.fin.gc.ca/news01/01-105e.html
CNN correspondent relates globalization to terrorism
Robert Hanson
Issue date: 9/17/03 Section: News
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Media Credit: Amanda Selvidio
CNN terrorism correspondent Peter Bergen shares his experiences of interviewing Osama bin Laden back in 1997 Tuesday night in the Barry Marks Auditorium in Chafee.
09/17/03 - CNN terrorism correspondent Peter Bergen said that globalization is one of the key factors in shaping terrorist organization today. Bergen spoke to a standing-room only audience at the University of Rhode Island Tuesday night.
Bergen was the second speaker in the university's sixteen-part 2003 Honors Colloquium on globalization. While Bergen did not focus on globalization, he did say that without it, terrorism as it exists today would not be possible.
"The globalized world enables terrorist groups," Bergen said, noting that while they are all good advances, products of globalization like the Internet, cheaper airfares, 24-hour news networks and open borders all aide terrorist groups.
"The kinds of people who are in these jihadist groups tend to be quite sophisticated. In the globalized world, terrorist groups kind of take advantage of globalized tech."
Bergen, who interviewed Osama bin Laden in 1997, said terrorism had evolved over the past 10 years. He said that after the attack on a Tokyo subway by the Aum Shinrikyo religious sect, which killed 12 and sent thousands to the hospital, terrorists had gone from trying to minimize causalities and maximizing coverage to trying to maximize both for "prestige." Because of this, Bergen said he believed that there would probably be an attack by terrorist groups with weapons of mass destruction.
"The previous reigns on using these weapons have seemed to disappear," he said.
The correspondent also said that he believed that both the Clinton and Bush Administrations deserved criticism for their handling of terrorism before the Sept. 11 attacks.
"Neither administration gets glowing marks," he said. "We can generously spread the blame around."
He did offer praise, however, for the Bush administration's handling of the war in Afghanistan, which destroyed many al-Qaida training camps and removed the Taliban regime which to that point had helped to hide bin Laden from the U.S.
Bergen pointed out that since the Sept. 11 attacks there had been no attacks in the U.S. and attacks on a much smaller scale abroad.
While he did not criticize the war on Iraq, Bergen said that the war had offered a new front for al-Qaida.
"Iraq is the future of al-Qaida, the future of jihadist groups," he said. "Unfortunately, I think Iraq will become the battlefield for al-Qaida in the future."
With regards to capturing leaders such as bin Laden and Mullah Omar of Afghanistan, Bergen said he believes that while it will help to disrupt terrorist networks, it will not bring them down.
"Al-Qaida has morphed from being an organization to an ideology," he said.
Bergen said he believes it is important for the American public to educate themselves about terrorism.
"This [recent terrorist attacks] is the beginning of a very professional terrorist campaign," he said. "It's in our principle national security issue right now. We should try to understand the enemies."
http://media.www.ramcigar.com/media/storage/paper366/news/2003/09/17/News/Cnn-Correspondent.Relates.Globalization.To.Terrorism-467443.shtml
Globalization and Terrorism
Arundhati Roy
Available Formats
CD: ROYA003aC $16.00
MP3: ROYA003aM $5.00
Tape: ROYA003aT $17.00
Transcript: ROYA003aD $7.00
Where recorded: Santa Fe, NM
Date recorded: 18 Sep 2002
Since 9/11 most of the media have studiously avoided talking about the origins of terrorism. It just happens like the well-known four-letter word. The corporate networks and their overpaid talking heads mimic the Bush line: "They, the evildoers hate us." Why? "Because of our values and freedom." This simple formula is repeated ad nauseam even while most of the world's media point to ample evidence that terrorism has deep roots. Since U.S.-led corporate Globalization accelerated in the 1990s the poor have gotten poorer and the rich richer. Disparities among and inside of countries have grown sharply. The train of the New World Order has left many passengers behind at the station. From Argentina and Brazil to Nigeria and India, the servant's are stirring. They are unhappy with the master's rules. Perhaps the definition of terrorism should include the economic variety.
Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy is an author, lecturer and activist. Her book, "The God of Small Things" won the prestigious Booker Prize. The New York Times calls her, "India's most impassioned critic of globalization and American influence." She is the winner of the Lannan Award for Cultural Freedom. Her latest books are "An Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire" and "The Checkbook & the Cruise Missile," with David Barsamian.
http://www.alternativeradio.org/programs/ROYA003.shtml
How Globalization Spurs Terrorism
The Lopsided Benefits of "One World" and Why That Fuels Violence
Fathali M. Moghaddam
Book Code: C34480
ISBN: 0-313-34480-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-34480-0
DOI: 10.1336/0313344809
208 pages, figure
Praeger Security International General Interest-Cloth
Publication Date: 8/30/2008
List Price: $44.95 (UK Sterling Price: £25.95)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Also Available: Ebook
Subjects:
Psychology » Psychology (General)
Military Studies » Military Psychology
Endorsement From Paul R. Ehrlich,
Bing Professor of Population Studies and professor of biological sciences at Stanford University,
member of the National Academy of Sciences and recipient of the Crafoord Prize, an explicit substitute for the Nobel Prize in fields of science in which the latter is not given.:
Moghaddam has given us the Big Picture for better understanding radicalization and terrorism in the 21st century. His psychological analysis shows the deep wounds being inflicted by 'lop-sided' globalization, and the irrational reactions that can arise from people experiencing threatened identities and what they see as possible extinction for their way of life. This book also points to the vital role of women in developing a better future in the Islamic world, and to the importance of resolving the New Global American Dilemma-a dilemma associated with the rhetorical American support for freedom and democracy around the world, while at the same time propping up 'friendly' dictatorships.
Endorsement From Richard Wagner, Editor
Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology:
Fathali Moghaddam provides us with a welcome long-term, global view of the processes underlying terrorism. Readers will find this a novel approach to promoting the peaceful resolution of conflict in the context of "fractured globalization", where an emerging global community is countered by a retreat to ethnocentrism and fundamentalism as socio-cultural and religious groups struggle to protect their social identities.
Description:
This book explores modern Islamic terrorism in the context of globalization and cultural evolution. 21st century terrorism is different and new, first because it relies heavily on electronic communication systems and other aspects of modern technologies, and second, because it is in large part a product of fractured globalization, with its associated threats to the collective identity of Muslims. Part one of this work contrasts globalization as an ideal with globalization as it is actually taking place, with its enormous contradictions and threats. Moghaddam, a longtime and highly respected terrorism and conflict researcher, argues that globalization is resulting in serious threats to the basic psychological needs of some, particularly in connection with collective identity. Part two explores how globalization has brought sudden contact between different groups with no previous history of large-scale contact, resulting in a rapid decline in diversity. Terrorism is one of the dysfunctional defense mechanisms of people in such conditions, facing external threats. Part three describes long-term solutions, focusing particularly on the role of women and the nature of the family in traditional Islamic societies.
Moghaddam shows us why globalization is resulting in what he calls "catastrophic evolution," the rapid decline and disappearance of minority cultures and languages, and why that brings a clash of ideologies and the rise of extremism. There are also other dangerous trends, and those call for inspired solutions, springing from an understanding that traditional conflict-resolution, evolved in the shadow of the Cold War, is no longer effective and needs to change.
Table of Contents:
Preface
Chapter 1. A dangerous new world
Chapter 2. The psychological citizen and globalization
Chapter 3. Universal needs and the psychological roots of radicalization and terrorism
Chapter 4. One world: Globalization as ideal
Chapter 5. Fractured globalization: Globalization in practice
Chapter 6. Intergroup contact and catastrophic evolution
Chapter 7. Threatened identities, change and globalization
Chapter 8. Universal rights and duties as explosive threats
Chapter 9. The American Dilemma becomes global
Afterward. The veiled solitude: Women as the solution
References
Notes
LC Card Number: 2008016466
LCC Class: BP190
Dewey Class: 363
http://www.greenwood.com/psi/book_detail.aspx?sku=C34480
BOM:500180 - BOM:532215 - LON:JMI
