2G scam: CBI recovers incriminating documents
Wikileaks:
Kerala, TN are training hubs for Lashkar!Our friends in abroad so
accuse United States of America using Wikileaks for Strategic Leakge.
Just after the Babri Mosque demolition followed by Banaras Blast, the
latest leakage about Lashkar Hub in South Asia is bound to deterioarte
internal communal harmony and it would intensify Brahaminical Hatred
campaign against Black Untouchable aboriginal indigenous Muslim
communities in India to make Indian stance as a partner in the America`s
War against Terror stronger!Wikileaks chose the land of anti Brahamin
Anti Aryan Dravid Negroid Humansape to brand as hub of Lashkar which is
already branded as Terrorist with Central India, Himalayan region
including entire North East and Kashmir!
Chidambaram says two-pronged strategy will continue to solve Naxalite problem
Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams, chapter 572
Palash Biswas
http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/
http://basantipurtimes.blogspot.com/
Wikileaks:
Kerala, TN are training hubs for Lashkar!Our friends in abroad so
accuse United States of america using Wikileaks for Strategic Leakge.
Just after the Babri Mosque demolition followed by Banaras Blast, the
latest leakage about Lashkar Hub in South Asia is bound to deterioarte
interanl communal harmony and it would intensify Brahaminical Hatred
campaign against Black Untouchable aboriginal indigenous Muslim
communities in India to make Indian stance as a partner in the America`s
War against Terror stronger!Wikileaks chose the land of anti Brahamin
Anti Aryan Dravid Negroid humansape to brand as hub of Lashkar which is
already branded as Terrorist with Central India, himalayan region
including entire North East and Kashmir!
The
CBI today said it had seized "incriminating" documents during searches
at 14 places, including former Telecom Minister A Raja's residence, in
connection with its probe into the 2G spectrum scam.
According
to CBI, the searches were conducted at the premises of Mr Raja, his
former personal secretary R K Chandolia, the then Secretary of
Department of Telecommunication Siddhartha Behuria and the then Member,
Telecom Commission, Department of Telecommunication K Sridhar.
The
premises of the then Deputy Director General, Access Service Wing,
Department of Telecommunication A K Srivastava and Managing Director of
Chennai-based export firm (Greenhouse Exports) Sadiqui Batcha were also
searched in the ongoing investigation into irregularities in the
allotment of Unified Access Service (UAS) Licence, a CBI official said.
"Searches
conducted so far at around 14 places have yielded recovery of
incriminating documents," Deputy Inspector General and spokesperson of
CBI Vineeta Thakur said, adding that "searches are still going on".
The
CBI had earlier registered a case on October 21, 2009 against unknown
officials of Department of Telecommunication and unknown private persons
or companies and others under Section of IPC and Prevention of
Corruption Act.
"It
has been alleged that there had been serious irregularities in the
award of Unified Access Services Licences to private companies.
"As
per information received, there was criminal conspiracy between certain
officials of DoT and private persons or companies and others in order
to award licences to these companies by putting a cap on the number of
applicants against recommendations of Telecom Regulatory Authority of
India and by awarding licences to private companies on
first-come-first-serve basis on the rates of 2001 without any
competitive bidding," Ms. Thakur said.
7 DEC, 2010, 11.31AM IST, RAJAT PANDIT,TNN
Indo-French upgrade deal for Mirage-2000 fighters, project cost 15k cr
India
will ink the upgrade deal for Mirage-2000 fighters with France in the
not too distant future but questions continue to be raised about the
"exorbitant" cost of upgrading the 52 French-origin jets in IAF's combat
fleet.
While
the exact contours of the Mirage mid-life upgrade deal will be decided
only after the final nod from the Cabinet Committee on Security ,
sources said the overall project cost was likely to ultimately touch
almost Rs 15,000 crore.
This
will include the Rs 3,000 crore or so share of Hindustan Aeronautics
Ltd (HAL), which will upgrade bulk of the fighters under transfer of
technology from French companies after the first four to six are "souped
up" in France.
A
joint statement issued after talks between PM Manmohan Singh and French
President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday said "discussions" on the Mirage
upgrade "are expected to be finalized soon" .
India
and France are also working towards "launching" the co-production of
shortrange surface-to-air missile system called 'Maitri' but all eyes
are fixed on the Mirage upgrade. It has been stuck in hard-nosed
negotiations for the last few years because the package offered by
French companies Dassault Aviation (aircraft manufacturer), Thales
(weapons systems integrator ) and MBDA (missile supplier) was around 30%
higher than what India was ready to pay initially.
"But
the project cost has not exceeded our planned estimates . The
Mirage-2000 has had a very good track record in IAF. After the upgrade,
we will get a very capable, stateof-the-art fighter, which will serve
for another 15-20 years," said a senior officer.
The
fact, however, remains that if the Rs 15,000 crore figure is taken as
the entire project cost, then the upgraded Mirage-2000 s will come for
Rs 288 crore each, which is enough to buy spanking new fighters.
Moreover, the ongoing upgrade of IAF's 63 MiG-29 s, under a deal inked
with Russia in March 2008, came for just $964 million.
MoD
and IAF, however, say the Mirage upgrade's scope is much bigger and
sophisticated than the MiG-29 one. Under it, the multi-role fighters
will get new avionics, radars, mission computers, glass cockpits,
helmet-mounted displays , electronic warfare suites, jam-proof
communication with data links, weapon delivery and precision-targeting
systems, including the all-weather , fire-and-forget MICA (interception
and aerial combat missiles) systems.
Having
first inducted 40 Mirages in the mid-1980 s, India procured over 20
more in later years. With a depleting number of fighter squadrons (each
has 16 to 18 jets), down to just 32 from a 'sanctioned strength' of
39.5, IAF is going for a mix of upgrades and new inductions like
Sukhoi-30 MKIs to maintain its combat readiness.
LeT's annual operations budget is $ 5.2 million
WASHINGTON:
Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan based terror outfit blamed for Mumbai
massacre raises an annual operation budget of a whopping $ 5.2 million
(23 cr) according to US intelligence estimates, with most of it coming
from private fund raised by its parent oragnisation JuD's charitable
networks.
Funds
are raised through a variety of sources mainly from private donations,
NGOs, madrassas and business spread throughout South Asia, the Middle
East and Europe, a non-paper prepared by the American intelligence says.
The
information in the non-paper was shared with the Pakistan Government in
August 2009 at the direction of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ,
leaked US diplomatic cables have revealed.
The
new reports of funding of terror outfits like LeT come as WikiLeaks
quoting diplomatic documents said Saudi Arabia was the key source for
funding of radical Islamist groups including LeT, Al Qaeda, Taliban and
Hamas.
Other
Gulf States like Qatar, Kuwait and UAE were reported to be lax in
pursuing wealthy Sheiks who contributed money to these groups.
The
findings are contained in a series of American diplomatic documents
spanning a period of several years, which depict the tough task
Washington faces to shut down the tap of terror funding, much of which
comes from wealthy donors.
Contrary
to denials, the document said that Hafiz Saeed continues to lead both
the LeT and its front organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa and that some of the
funds collected in the name of charitable activities have been used for
planning terror attacks.
The
leaks said that US intelligence assesses that Saeed and operations
chief of LeT Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi continued to run the organisation
despite being detained for their role in the Mumbai attacks.
The
non-paper was used by Clinton to convey to Pakistan her decision to
oppose de-listing of JuD and its leader from the UN sanctions' list.
"We
also judge that they have planned, directed, and executed LeT attacks
throughout South Asia and likely have used some funds collected in the
name of JuD's charitable activities to support multiple LeT terrorist
operations, including the November Mumbai attacks," it said.
| News | |||
| 8 Dec 2010, 20:25 RBI to revisit GDP projection in Jan policy - Subbarao The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) chief said on Thursday the bank would revisit GDP numbers at its quarterly policy in January. 8 Dec 2010, 20:24 Dhoni signs Rs 29-crore endorsement deal with Maxx Mobile Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni has signed a Rs 29 cr endorsement deal with Maxx Mobile for a period of seven years.
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IPOs set for record 300 billion dollars this year: StudyPARIS:
Dynamic business activity in Asia should push the global value of stock
market flotations to more than 300 billion dollars (227 billion euros)
this year, exceeding the record in 2007, a study showed on Wednesday.
In the first 11 months of the year the amount of money raised by 1,199 initial public offerings (IPOs) was 255 billion dollars.
The
total for the year is on track to exceed the record value of 295
billion dollars raised in 2007, the study by consultants Ernst &
Young estimated.
The analysis focused on three huge flotations this year that accounted for one quarter of all the money raised.
These
were the flotation of Agricultural Bank of China, the Asian branch of
US insurer AIG , AIA and the rebirth of General Motors in the United
States.
A further 82 flotations were due to occur in December, raising a total of at least 16.9 billion dollars.
Nearly two thirds of the total amount raised was attracted by flotations in Asia.
From
January to the end of November, flotations on Asian markets had raised
the unprecedented total of 164 billion dollars, compared with a previous
record in the region of 98 billion dollars in 2006.
The
study said that investors globally had used low interest rates on
developed markets and readily available cash to benefit from growth in
Asia and on other emerging markets.
Buddhadeb rules out FDI in agri-retail business in WB
KOLKATA:
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today ruled out
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the agri-retail sector in the state
and said his government would strengthen marketing infrastructure for
the benefit of farmers.
"We
don't want FDI in agri-retail business in the state at this moment. We
will strengthen infrastructure for agriculture marketing in the interest
of farmers," Bhattacharjee told reporters at the state secretariat.
He
said there was no cold storage facility for farmers, particularly for
those growing flowers, fruits and vegetables in major production centres
in the rural belt near markets.
The
absence of minimum support price for fruits, flowers and vegetables
often forced farmers to make distress sale of their products
particularly during the peak season, incurring huge losses, he said.
Laying
the foundation stone of 30 modern multi-purpose cold storages and cold
chains in 16 districts through video conference, Bhattacharjee said 30
multi-purpose cold storages would come up at a cost of Rs 55.33 crore,
85 per cent of which would be taken as loan from NABARD and the rest
would be borne by the state government and its agencies.
He
said West Bengal State Marketing Board has prepared an integrated cold
chain network of 31 multipurpose cold storages in major agriculture
producing areas to be run on no-profit-no-loss basis.
All
the 31 multi-purpose units would be linked by 13 refrigerated vans for
transport of agricultural produce of farmers, he said.
Varanasi terror e-mails tracked to Navi Mumbai
MUMBAI:
Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjeev Dayal Wednesday said that the
e-mails claiming responsibility for the Varanasi blast of Tuesday
evening were tracked to Navi Mumbai.
"The
e-mails have been sent after hacking an unsecured WiFi (wireless
internet) connection of Vashi township in Navi Mumbai, not from Mumbai's
western suburb Malad," Dayal told reporters.
Banned
terrorist outfit Indian Mujahideen in its e-mails sent to media houses
claimed the responsibility for the Tuesday evening bomb blast in
Varanasi, which killed a two-year-old girl and injured over 20 other
people.
Mumbai Police earlier detained two people, but they were released after questioning.
Maharashtra
Home Minister R.R. Patil said: "Primary investigations show that the
e-mails have been sent from areas around Mumbai. I would request WiFi
users to secure their connections so that terrorist outfits cannot break
into them."
A
two-year-old girl was killed and over 20 people, including a few
foreigners, were injured when a bomb exploded on the bank of the Ganga
during Tuesday evening's 'maha aarati' watched by hundreds.
In
an e-mail to media houses soon after the blast, the Indian Mujahideen
said: "Indian Mujahideen attribute(s) this attack to the 6th of December
that will haunt your nation of world's 'greatest demoNcracy' until
Muslims are paid back justly and fairly for the loss of their beloved
Babri Masjid, the precious lives of their near and dear ones, their
pride, dignity and self-respect."
<img
width=1 height=1 alt=""
src="http://row.bc.yahoo.com/b?P=9cFLc7TpcnXSv.LYTO6nwARYO6K_6Ez_kkQADAG4&T=144s4beac%2fX%3d1291817539%2fE%3d2143334849%2fR%3dinnews_glo%2fK%3d5%2fV%3d2.1%2fW%3dHR%2fY%3dIN%2fF%3d3440690058%2fQ%3d-1%2fS%3d1%2fJ%3d7973E9B4&U=13bdbphti%2fN%3dW9exInllmPg-%2fC%3d788827.14463081.14309475.813482%2fD%3dN%2fB%3d6275583%2fV%3d1">
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Won't allow construction of mosque at disputed site: VHP
PTI - Wed, Dec 8 12:15 AM ISTThe
VHP said construction of a new mosque will not be allowed at the
disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri masjid land in Ayodhya at any cost even
if a lot of sacrifices need to be made to ensure that. More »
26/11 terror suspect's trial in Feb
IANS - Tue, Dec 7 9:09 AM ISTPakistani-Canadian terror suspect Tahawwur Hussain Rana, co-accused with LeT operative … More »
Sarkozy pays tribute to 26/11 martyrs
ANI - Tue, Dec 7 2:37 PM ISTFrench President Nicolas Sarkozy today paid tribute to victims of the 26/11 terror attacks … More »
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Chandigarh,
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Maths Olympiad questions leaked on Internet before exam PTI
Maths Olympiad questions leaked on Internet before exam
Kolkata,
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Opposition sans BJP stage dharna demanding JPC PTI
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Dec 7 (PTI) Former UP chief secretary Neera Yadav was today sentenced
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8 December 2010 Last updated at 12:46 GMT
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India 'telecoms scam': Ex-minister Raja's homes raided
Continue reading the main story
Related stories
India's
top investigation agency has raided houses owned by a former telecoms
minister allegedly involved in a corruption scandal, reports say.
India's Central Bureau of Investigation conducted searches on Andimuthu Raja's houses in Delhi and Madras.
Mr Raja quit last month, denying allegations that he had undersold mobile phone licences.
Parliament has been deadlocked after the government rejected a joint inquiry into the alleged scam.
The
allegations against Mr Raja have been described by some analysts as the
country's biggest-ever scandal - with critics claiming the alleged
misappropriation of funds amounts to about $37bn (£23bn).
The
BBC's Mark Dummett says that the row over the scandal has become the
biggest political issue in India, with parliament brought into deadlock
over the opposition's demands for a cross-party investigation into the
matter.
CBI
spokesperson Vineeta Thakur said that searches were conducted at
"residential and official premises of Mr Raja and several of his [former
telecommunications ministry] officials".
"The
searches started early in the morning and until now 14 places have been
searched. Incriminating documents have been found during the searches,
which are still going on."
The home of Mr Raja's former personal secretary, RK Chandolia, is believed to be among the premises that were searched.
Mr
Raja is accused of issuing 2G licences in 2008 on a "first-come,
first-served" basis instead of auctioning them, costing the government
billions of dollars in lost revenue.
Biggest market
Critics
said the low return was underscored when India's auction in May of 3G
bandwidth for mobile phone services ended up reaping $15bn, twice the
sum expected.
Mr
Raja presided over the world's fastest growing mobile market; there are
about half a billion mobile phone subscribers in India.
His political party, DMK, is one of the largest partners in India's ruling Congress-led coalition.
Separately,
the high court in Madras has suspended a senior lawyer from practising
because of an alleged attempt to influence a judge in a different
criminal case by using the name of Mr Raja.
RK Chandramohan, who is also the chairman of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu, has been stripped of his post.
Judge
R Regupathi wrote to the Madras court's chief justice alleging that Mr
Chandramohan had pleaded that a father and son should be granted bail as
they were "family friends of a union minister by the name [of] Raja".
Mr Raja has denied that he "authorised any person to speak on my behalf to any judge in any case".
He has complained that he has been "condemned, charge-sheeted, tried and convicted by the media".
"My stock is so low that anything I say does not redeem my position," he said in a statement.
More on This Story
Related stories
- Big money behind India telecoms 15 NOVEMBER 2010, SOUTH ASIA
- India's 3G auction raises $15bn 19 MAY 2010, BUSINESS
From other news sites
Economic Times DMK backs Raja, asks Oppn to allow Parliament to function 43 mins ago
Financial Times* Indian investigators raid former minister 1 hr ago
Guardian.co.uk Indian federal agents raid former minister's homes and offices 3 hrs ago
Yahoo! UK and Ireland Police raid minister's homes in India telecom scam 4 hrs ago
Reuters UPDATE 2-Indian police go after ex-minister in telecoms row 6 hrs ago
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RSSDeadly blast in Pakistan market
A suicide bomber attacks a market in the troubled north-western region of Pakistan, killing at least 16 people, police say.
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11945232
Day after Varanasi blast, Centre-UP fight over missed terror signals
Home minister P Chidambarm's remarks on an advisory issued to it, Uttar
Pradesh government today said there was no specific actionable
intelligence from the Centre about possible terrorist activity in the
city and that there was no laxity on its part.
"Holding state responsible is not justified," state cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh told reporters here.
He
said, "There was no specific actionable intelligence input regarding a
terrorist act in Varanasi. An alert was received on February 25 this
year, but that was up to Dusshera festival (in October) only.
"Expecting
that input to be specific and actionable even after Dusshera festival
is not justified..... Stating that the state was alerted in advance is
far from reality," Singh said.
He said that two general alerts were also issued regarding anniversaries of 26/11 Mumbai attacks and demolition of Babri Masjid on December 6.
"Those alerts were general in nature to maintain vigil on these two days," he said.
The cabinet secretary said that there was no laxity on the part of the local police.
"As
a routine exercise, ghats where Ganga 'arti' is held is sanitised at 5
PM every day and this exercise was carried out yesterday as well. Thus,
there was no laxity yesterday," he said.
Accusing
the Centre of lacking willpower required to tackle terrorism, the
cabinet secretary said that Chief Minister Mayawati was of the clear
view that leaving the issued to the state was not justified.
Asking the Centre to rise above party politics, he said Mayawati has written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding adequate security at important religious and tourist places in the state.
"The
Chief Minister has requested the Prime Minister to provide 125
companies (12,500 personnel) of central forces so that a lasting
arrangement could be made for security," he said.Day after Varanasi blast, Centre-UP fight over missed terror signals
Times of India - 1 hour ago
VARANASI/LUCKNOW: The Centre and Uttar Pradesh government today sparred on the Varanasi terror attack with Home Minister P Chidambaram saying there was a specific advisory given on the possibility of a strike in one of the Ganga ghats but its utility ...
Varanasi bomb: Chidambaram suggests security 'lapses'
BBC News - 1 hour ago
India's home minister has suggested there may have been some security "lapses" before Tuesday's deadly blast in the northern holy city of Varanasi. P Chidambaram said the government had given Uttar Pradesh police a "specific" warning about a possible ...
India on Alert After Bombing in Holy City
Voice of America - Anjana Pasricha - 2 hours ago
Photo: AP Indian authorities have appealed for calm and sounded a nationwide alert following a bomb attack in the Hindu holy city, Varanasi, which killed a child and injured 37 other people, including foreign tourists. An Indian Islamist group has ...
Varanasi terror e-mails tracked to Navi Mumbai
Economic Times - 1 hour ago
MUMBAI: Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjeev Dayal Wednesday said that the e-mails claiming responsibility for the Varanasi blast of Tuesday evening were tracked to Navi Mumbai. "The e-mails have been sent after hacking an unsecured WiFi (wireless ...
Varanasi bomb blast: Indian Mujahideen email
NDTV.com - 3 hours ago
Varanasi: Exactly 31 minutes after the blast at Varanasi killed a baby girl, an email from terror group Indian Mujahideen (IM) was sent to several media organisations, claiming responsibility for the explosion. (Also read: Varanasi blast - Mayawati, ...
3 detained over Varanasi blast
Hindustan Times - 3 hours ago
The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad on Wednesday detained three people in connection with Tuesday's blast in Varanasi which killed a one-year-old child and injured at least 20 people, a media report said. According to CNN-IBN, the ATS has identified ...
Varanasi blast: Mayawati, Centre argue over blame
NDTV.com - 2 hours ago
Varanasi: Barely 20 hours after a blast shattered the evening prayers on the banks of the Ganga in Varanasi, the UP government and the Centre are trading charges over whether the attack could have been prevented. A baby girl was killed and close to 25 ...
Indian Mujahideen e-mails a routine after blasts
Daily News & Analysis - 2 hours ago
Place: Mumbai | Agency: PTI The e-mail purportedly sent by terror outfit Indian Mujahideen claiming responsibility for the Varanasi blast is not the first such electronic mail linking Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to terror attacks. ...
There was no intelligence input from Centre, says UP govt.
The Hindu - 2 hours ago
PTI PTI Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati visits the site of the explosion at Dashashwamedh Ghat on the banks of river Ganga, in Varanasi, on Tuesday night. Countering Home Minister P. Chidambarm's remarks on an advisory issued to it, Uttar Pradesh ...
Varanasi - The day after the blast
The Hindu - 3 hours ago
Even as Home Minister P. Chidambaram arrived in Varanasi to inspect the blast site, the town limped back to normalcy on Wednesday. Even as Home Minister P. Chidambaram arrived in Varanasi to inspect the blast site, the town limped back to normalcy on ...
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Day after Varanasi blast, Centre-UP fight over missed terror signals
1 hour ago - Times of India
After blast, prayers as usual at Ganga in Varanasi
9 hours ago - Hindustan Times
City on alert after Varanasi bomb blast
12 hours ago - Express Buzz
Terror strikes Varanasi: 1 dead, 35 hurt in blast at ghat
19 hours ago - Times of India
PM asks home ministry for a detailed report on the blast
Dec 7, 2010 - Hindustan Times
Explosion in Varanasi, at least 20 injured
Dec 7, 2010 - Economic Times
Varanasi: Bomb blast in temple injures 25
Dec 7, 2010 - Oneindia
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US offered help in probing the Varanasi blast
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<div class="video-thumb thumbnail"><a class="js-link thumbnail-toggle" href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="return false;"><img src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/x8Izz4QOgVU/default.jpg" alt="" class="thumbnail" width="120" height="90"> <div class="icon play-icon"></div></a></div> <div class="video-details"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8Izz4QOgVU">US offered help in probing the Varanasi blast</a> <span class="source">NewsX</span> - 3 hours ago <div class="icon video-icon"></div> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8Izz4QOgVU">Watch video</a></div>
Varanasi bomb blast: Victims narrate the ordeal
NDTV.com - 5 hours ago Watch video
<div class="video-thumb thumbnail"><a class="js-link thumbnail-toggle" href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="return false;"><img src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/jHvXlWnaT74/default.jpg" alt="" class="thumbnail" width="120" height="90"> <div class="icon play-icon"></div></a></div> <div class="video-details"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHvXlWnaT74">Varanasi bomb blast: Victims narrate the ordeal</a> <span class="source">NDTV.com</span> - 5 hours ago <div class="icon video-icon"></div> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHvXlWnaT74">Watch video</a></div>
Baby Swastika missed her second birthday by 10 days
NDTV.com - 5 hours ago Watch video
<div class="video-thumb thumbnail"><a class="js-link thumbnail-toggle" href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="return false;"><img src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/S-MUle5aW7I/default.jpg" alt="" class="thumbnail" width="120" height="90"> <div class="icon play-icon"></div></a></div> <div class="video-details"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-MUle5aW7I">Baby Swastika missed her second birthday by 10 days</a> <span class="source">NDTV.com</span> - 5 hours ago <div class="icon video-icon"></div> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-MUle5aW7I">Watch video</a></div>
Nation on alert post Varanasi blast
NewsX - Dec 7, 2010 Watch video
<div class="video-thumb thumbnail"><a class="js-link thumbnail-toggle" href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="return false;"><img src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/92GUbm5J3wo/default.jpg" alt="" class="thumbnail" width="120" height="90"> <div class="icon play-icon"></div></a></div> <div class="video-details"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92GUbm5J3wo">Nation on alert post Varanasi blast</a> <span class="source">NewsX</span> - Dec 7, 2010 <div class="icon video-icon"></div> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92GUbm5J3wo">Watch video</a></div>
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Meanwhie,Home
Minister P. Chidambaram has said that the Centre's two- pronged anti-
Naxalite strategy will continue and there is no better alternative.
Speaking
at a seminar on 'Development problems of regions affected by discontent
and extremism' in New Delhi on Monday, Chidambaram said: "There needs
to be a two-pronged approach to solve the issue of Left-wing extremism."
"The development and police action together is the answer to Left-wing extremism," he added.
Giving
an account of the number of schools and roads destroyed by the rebels,
he said that they don't want the backward regions to be developed.
"If
the Naxalites were in fact pro-development then they will not blast
school buildings, bridges and roads. Please remember vast areas in
Bastar district had been mined so that nobody can move. Most roads have
been mined," said Chidambaram.
He
further said that in 2010 there were 302 incidents of Maoist violence
in which they targeted railway tracks and stations, telephone exchange
and towers, power plants, mining equipments, electricity transmission
polls, Panchayat and school buildings, forest roads, culverts, bridges,
and other targets.
He
said in states like Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and
Orissa, in 2010 alone, the rebels have destroyed 34 school buildings.
According to him police action along with developmental work in the Maoist infested areas are the right measure to counter them.
"In
order to counter them the only way is police action combined with
whatever development we can bring to those areas," added Chidambaram.
He
also pitched for setting up of a process so that certain amount of
funds could reach directly to the local body and local authorities to
carry out development work as asked by locals in Naxal-affected areas.
He
said the paramilitary forces were deployed in large number during the
recent Bihar Assembly elections and hence people came out in large
number, which was a statement against Naxals.
Chidambaram said a large number of security personnel are also posted in Jharkhand for panchayat elections.
Expressindia » Story
Will DMK sacrifice Raja to save face before TN Assembly polls?
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Gopu Mohan
Posted: Dec 08, 2010 at 1511 hrs IST
Chennai
From being one of the most influential young leaders of the DMK, ousted
Telecom Minister A Raja is fast becoming a liability for the party
ahead of the Assembly elections, with sources indicating there is a move
to distance the party from him and thus from the scam.
Though
the party has supported him to the hilt so far, what has changed the
mood is the perception that the scam has dented the image of the DMK
ahead of the elections. This despite the slew of welfare measures that
the party's government rolled out one after the other in the last four
and a half years.
Officially, Raja is the propaganda secretary of the party.
According
to a DMK source, it is fast becoming untenable for the party to back
Raja on the face of Wednesady's raids and other recent developments
including his name figuring in the case pertaining to an attempt to
influence a judge of the Madras High Court.
The move to remove Raja has the backing of a section of the senior leadership and the family, sources added.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Will-DMK-sacrifice-Raja-to-save-face-before-TN-Assembly-polls/721998/
Sonia Gandhi 'Gangotri' of corruption: Swamy
Mumbai
Terming Congress president Sonia Gandhi as "Gangotri" (fountainhead) of
corruption in the country, Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy on
Wednesday said Opposition should not 'play' her game.
"The
JPC probe (into alleged irregularities in the 2G spectrum) will serve
to humiliate the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and he may resign which
is what Sonia Gandhi wants," Swamy said.
"The
Opposition should take care that they don't play Sonia Gandhi's game,"
he said after meeting Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray at the latter's
residence in suburban Bandra here.
Asked
if he thought Sonia Gandhi was instigating Opposition to insist on the
JPC probe, Swamy said "Yes, I think she is instigating the Opposition
for a confrontation on this (issue) so that the Prime Minister loses."
On
whether the Opposition was playing into her hands, Swamy said "I think
if the PM were forced to resign at this juncture, you are empowering
Sonia Gandhi... so that she is free to bring in Rahul Gandhi as the
Prime Minister."
"I
have urged Balasaheb (Thackeray) to organise a rally against corruption
and he has agreed for it. It will be held at the Shivaji Park," Swamy
said.
Sonia
Gandhi was "Gangotri" (fountainhead) of corruption in the country,
Swamy said. "I requested Balasaheb to lead the country and get rid of
the rampant corruption," he said.
Mumbai
Terming Congress president Sonia Gandhi as "Gangotri" (fountainhead) of
corruption in the country, Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy on
Wednesday said Opposition should not 'play' her game.
"The
JPC probe (into alleged irregularities in the 2G spectrum) will serve
to humiliate the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and he may resign which
is what Sonia Gandhi wants," Swamy said.
"The
Opposition should take care that they don't play Sonia Gandhi's game,"
he said after meeting Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray at the latter's
residence in suburban Bandra here.
Asked
if he thought Sonia Gandhi was instigating Opposition to insist on the
JPC probe, Swamy said "Yes, I think she is instigating the Opposition
for a confrontation on this (issue) so that the Prime Minister loses."
On
whether the Opposition was playing into her hands, Swamy said "I think
if the PM were forced to resign at this juncture, you are empowering
Sonia Gandhi... so that she is free to bring in Rahul Gandhi as the
Prime Minister."
"I
have urged Balasaheb (Thackeray) to organise a rally against corruption
and he has agreed for it. It will be held at the Shivaji Park," Swamy
said.Sonia
Gandhi was "Gangotri" (fountainhead) of corruption in the country,
Swamy said. "I requested Balasaheb to lead the country and get rid of
the rampant corruption," he said.Why don't you go into 2G case from 2001? SC asks govt
The
Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to consider setting up a
special court to deal with the Rs 1.76 lakh crore 2G spectrum scam.A
Bench of Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly said there was a need for
a special court in view of the magnitude of the offence as otherwise
the objective of the prevention of Corruption Act and Foreign Exchange
Management Act (FEMA) could not be achieved."Unless
the government is prepared to create a special court, purpose will not
be served. It is the need of the hour, we must have exclusive courts to
deal with these offences," the Bench observed.Solicitor
General Gopal Subramanium admitted that the case needs special
expertise and said he would consult the government and report back to
the court."We
have to get a special court if we want objective of the statue to be
achieved. It cannot be done with existing manpower and infrastructure,"
the bench said.The
apex court pointed out that though the government was enacting a number
of laws, it was not creating adequate courts as the result of which the
existing courts are overburdened and there is no way special cases like
the present one can be dealt in an expeditious manner."The
present courts are overburdened. Most important in this case is
appreciation of evidence from a normal murder case. Here, it is a
conspiracy. That conspiracy angle has to be investigated. It needs
expertise. When you enact a law, you should have that in mind," the
Bench observed."Why
don't you go into the matter from 2001," the Bench said, noting that
the prices for allocation of spectrum on first-come-first-served basis
was fixed at that time.The Enforcement Directorate, meanwhile, submitted its report on its probe into the scam to the court in a sealed cover.
Submitting
its report to the court, Additional Solicitor General Haren Rawal told
the Bench that it contains details of the investigation since March 9,
2010 in the case that was registered under Prevention of Money
Laundering Act and Foreign Exchange Management Act.He said the probe was carried on the basis of the case related to the scam, registered by the CBI on October 21, 2009.
The report details the investigation carried out till November 29, 2010.
The
Bench, meanwhile, ruled out the CBI's suggestion that the court should
deliver its orders and directions in the 2G spectrum case in a sealed
cover."Giving orders in sealed cover will not be conducive to the administration of justice," the Bench said.
"The
functioning of the court and the hearing of the case or the order of
the court is not influenced by any criticism. Whether its a munsif court
or the Supreme Court, it has to act in its wisdom keeping in mind the
Constitution and the public interest," the bench said, dismissing CBI's
suggestion.The
Bench said the hearing in the case is being done in open court and
everything has been reported and added that despite there being some
distortion at times in the (news) reports, all this will have no effect
on the court proceedings."Giving
orders in sealed covers may not be conducive to administration of
justice. It is not warranted as it will give rise to speculation, rather
wide speculation...", the court reiterated."Let us go by our own norms," the bench observed.
At
this point, senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for the CBI, said
it is for the court to decide whether to deliver its orders in a sealed
cover or in the open court.
CBI raid residences of A Raja, 4 Telecom officials
Font Size
Express news service
Posted: Dec 08, 2010 at 0828 hrs IST
New Delhi
CBI on Wednesday carried out raids on the residences of former Telecom
Minister A Raja in Delhi and Chennai along with the residences of four
Telecom officials.
The
raids are being carried out at the residences of former Telecom
Secretary Siddharth Behura, Raja's personal secretary R K Chandolia,
Telecom (member) K Sridhar and Deputy Director General (DoT) A K
Srivastava.
The
disgraced former Telecom minister was in the midst of another
controversy after the Madras High Court yesterday suspended from the Bar
a top lawyer allegedly involved in an attempt to influence a judge by
taking the minister's name.
A
division Bench of the Madras High Court suspended the Tamil Nadu and
Pondicherry Bar Council chairman R K Chandramohan who tried to act as
the conduit between Raja, then the IT and Communications Minister, and
the judge to ensure that the anticipatory bail petition of a father-son
duo close to Raja was considered favourably by the court.
Chandramohan
was the counsel representing Dr C Krishnamurthy and his son Kiruba
Sridhar, an MBBS student of the Pondicherry University, who faced
charges of fudging his marksheets. The Minister, advocate and the doctor
hail from Perambalur district with several years — and layers — of
relationship between them.
Last
week, the Supreme Court had come down heavily on Raja for "bypassing"
and even "overruling" Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's advice to defer
the allocation of 2G spectrum by a few days.
The
apex court also took strong exception to the tone and tenor of Raja's
letter to the Prime Minister, saying it amounted to showing "disrespect"
to the highest authority in the country.
47-year-old
Raja was forced to resign as Telecom minister on November 14 in the
wake of the CAG's report that the rates at which 2G spectrum was
allotted resulted in a loss to the exchequer to the tune of Rs 1.76 lakh
crore.Raja tried to influence judge in education scam: Madras HC
In
further embarrassment to former Telecom Minister A Raja, the Madras
High Court today suspended from the bar a top lawyer who was allegedly
involved in an attempt to influence a judge by taking the name of the
minister.It is alleged Raja is the minister in question.
A
Division Bench, comprising Justice F M Ibrahim Khalifulla and Justice M
M Sundaresh, said the status of R K Chandramohan, a member and
subsequently as Chairman of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and
Pondichery, shall stand suspended forthwith.He should not be permitted to function as such pending disciplinary action by the Bar Council of India, the Bench said.
Disposing
of a petition by a lawyer, the Bench appended a portion of a letter
written by a former judge of the court Justice S Reghupati, who had
reported that Chandramohan had entered his chamber last year and pleaded
that the case of a father and a son, accused in a marks scandal case in
Puducherry, for anticipatory bail be considered favourably as they were
"family friends of a Union Minister by name Raja".The lawyer handed over his mobile phone to the judge saying that the "Union minister is on the line to have a talk with me".
"I
discouraged such conduct of Mr Chandramohan and told him that the case
would be disposed of in accordance with law, if listed before me,"
Justice Reghupati had said in his letter of July 7, 2009 to the then
Chief Justice of India.Justice
Reghupati, who has since retired, had in his letter, complained about
the Chandramohan's "outburst and uncontrollable" behaviour.The
judge had in the open court last year alleged that a Union minister,
through a lawyer, attempted to speak to him on the telephone seeking
favours in a case being investigated by the CBI posted the matter to
another judge. But he had not named the minister.In
his letter to the CJI, Justice Reghupati had observed that "a counsel,
who made an attempt to exert influence on the court by using the name of
a Cabinet minister, cannot be allowed to succeed in snatching an order
in his favour by advancing a threat".The
issue became a raging controversy after the then CJI told the media
that the judge had sent a report to him making it clear that no Union
minister spoke to him directly.Justice
Reghupati made those remarks addressing Chandramohan, who was appearing
in connection with an anticipatory bail plea by S Kirub Shridhar, a
third year student in a private medical college in Puducherry, and his
doctor-father Krishnamoorthy.The
bail pleas were moved by Chandramohan on behalf of the two who had been
booked by the CBI for allegedly using the services of a Pondicherry
University official and a middleman to inflate marks to get a medical
seat at the time of admission.Justice
Reghupati, in his letter to the CJI, had observed that Chandramohan
made a plea to him that the court should call for the case diary and
hear the case with reference to the material collected during the course
of investigation."I
have impressed upon the representing counsel by explicating that a like
direction could be given to the prosecution only in the event of a
judge satisfying that such course is inevitable and absolutely necessary
in a given situation and that on mere demands and as a matter of
routine such exercise cannot be undertaken.""At
that time Mr Chandramohan stood up and made a similar demand and when I
emphatically declined to accede to his adamant demand, he vociferously
remarked that the court is always taking sides with the prosecution and
not accepting the submissions made by the counsel for the accused while
giving importance to the Prosecutor.""On
such pointless remark, I said the counsel had engaged to argue on his
behalf has made his submission and he is not supposed to pass such
slanderous and derogatory remarks," Justice Reghupati had said in his
letter.The
lawyer, who had filed the petition, moved the court for debarring
Chandramohan from continuing as Bar Council Chairman for his alleged
misconduct and order the Bar Council of India to take disciplinary
action against him.The
Bench also said Justice Reghupathi's letter shall be under the custody
of the Registrar General in a sealed cover which, however, shall be part
of the case.
Noam Chomsky: WikiLeaks Cables Reveal "Profound Hatred for Democracy on the Part of Our Political Leadership"
In
a national broadcast exclusive interview, we speak with world-renowned
political dissident and linguist Noam Chomsky about the release of more
than 250,000 secret U.S. State Department cables by WikiLeaks. In 1971,
Chomsky helped government whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg release the
Pentagon Papers, a top-secret internal U.S. account of the Vietnam War.
Commenting on the revelations that several Arab leaders are urging the
United States to attack Iran, Chomsky says the latest polls show "Arab
opinion holds that the major threat in the region is Israel, that's 80
percent; the second threat is the United States, that's 77 percent. Iran
is listed as a threat by 10 percent... This may not be reported in the
newspapers, ... but it's certainly familiar to the Israeli and the U.S.
governments and to the ambassadors... What that reveals is the profound
hatred for democracy on the part of our political leadership." [includes
rush transcript]
Watch Part II of this conversation.
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- Headlines
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http://readersupportednews.org/off-site-news-section/368-wikileaks/4112-noam-chomsky-wikileaks-cables-reveal-qprofound-hatred-for-democracyq
Islamic terror groups could have big bases in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Wikileaks cables now reveal.
A
2009 cable, signed by secretary of state Hillary Clinton, says the
Laskhar-e-Taiba had surveyed Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka, and was
in the process of setting up training camps. It also says it planned to
kill Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. In another revelation,
Hillary says Saudi donors are supporting Sunni terror groups across the
world.
Gunman
Kasab, arrested in connection with the 2008 Mumbai blasts, had
confessed on video that the Lashkar recruited him to carry out a suicide
attack by paying off his father. Kasab later told the court he had made
that confession under duress.
The
police were not completely oblivious to the problem, though. In 2007,
police were talking about 50 Lashkar militants being active in the
south, especially Karnataka.
In
2008, nine low-intensity blasts rocked Bangalore. A woman was killed.
In 2010, two bombs went off at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, just
before an IPL match, injuring six. The Karnataka police arrested Abdul
Naseer Madani, a radical Islamist from Kerala, on charges of plotting
the blasts. Andhra Pradesh was not spared either. In 2007, two blasts
went off at Hyderabad. Two years on, the Andhra Pradesh police arrested
13 men, and sent out an alert to neighbouring states.
The
Intelligence Bureau had said it had picked up some intercepts
suggesting that cities in the south could be targeted. In September
2009, Rediff reported:
"It
is now confirmed that many southern modules carried out the serial
blasts in the country. Following the blasts there was a major crackdown
on the cadres and sleeper cells. Even the interrogation of various
terrorists revealed that the southern module carried out the blasts.
The
most important factor that came out during the interrogation was that
the entire southern module was directly linked to the Gulf module.
However, the recent crackdown has had a disastrous effect on the
Lashkar's plans. Sources say that the south modules were being majorly
financed by the Gulf module."
Like It or Not, WikiLeaks is a Media Entity
By Mathew Ingram Dec. 4, 2010, 4:00pm PDT
The
past week has seen plenty of ink spilled — virtual and otherwise —
about WikiLeaks and its mercurial front-man, Julian Assange, and the
pressure they have come under from the U.S. government and companies
such as
Amazon
and PayPal, both of which have blocked WikiLeaks from using their
services. Why should we care about any of this? Because more than
anything else, WikiLeaks is a publisher — a new kind of publisher, but a
publisher nonetheless — and that makes this a freedom of the press
issue. Like it or not, WikiLeaks is fundamentally a journalistic entity,
and as such it deserves our protection.
Not
everyone agrees with this point of view, of course. Some argue that
there is nothing journalistic about the organization whatsoever, and
that it is simply a lawless group of misfits spreading information
around that it doesn't have the right to distribute, without caring for
the effects of its actions. That may be true — but it's also true that
the same description fits more than one allegedly journalistic entity in
the traditional media sphere, and they are all protected by the First
Amendment and its principles regarding freedom of the press. So why is
WikiLeaks not worthy of the same protection?
Senator
Joe Lieberman (I-Conn), the chairman of the Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs committee, is the one who put pressure on Amazon to
remove support for WikiLeaks (although the company claims it removed
the organization's site from its servers because Wikileaks did not own
the rights to the content, not because of political pressure). Senator
Lieberman has proposed legislation called the SHIELD law — short for
Securing Human Intelligence and Enforcing Lawful Dissemination — which
would make it a crime to publish information that might harm U.S. agents
or informants, or would otherwise be contrary to the national interest.
This
might as well be called the WikiLeaks law, since it is clearly targeted
at the organization — which did not actually leak the documents
(something that is already a crime under the Espionage Act) but is
clearly publishing them. But the heavy hand of this law would not just
fall on WikiLeaks; it would also potentially cover anyone who has
published the cables, such as the New York Times. Just as sources used
to leak secret documents to newspapers, which often published them
regardless of whether the government disapproved, now those sources can
go to WikiLeaks and accomplish the same thing.
So
what makes WikiLeaks different from the New York Times? There are the
obvious things, of course — the latter publishes a print newspaper, is a
member of a variety of self-regulatory bodies involving the media, and
is a venerable institution with a long history of journalistic
integrity. WikiLeaks, meanwhile, is a shadowy organization with an
uncertain history, opaque motivations and publishes only online. That
said, why are we so eager to protect one and not the other? WikiLeaks'
stated intention is to bring transparency to the political process and
expose wrongdoing. Isn't that the same thing the Times does? And yet one
is being hounded by government agents, forced to remove its documents
from Amazon's servers and blocked from using PayPal, while the other is
free to publish whatever it wants. What if the Times were to store some
of its content on Amazon's EC2 servers or use PayPal for transactions —
would it be subject to the same treatment? And if not, why is WikiLeaks?
Some
would argue that we don't need entities like WikiLeaks, because
traditional publishers like the New York Times are good enough. And it's
true that leakers took their information to newspapers before WikiLeaks
came along — but it's also true that many of them refused to publish
it. And in some cases, information that should not have been published
actually took the spotlight away from the truth, as in the case of the
Times' reporting leading up to the Iraq War. An independent source of
documents like WikiLeaks (which journalism professor Jay Rosen has
called the world's "first stateless news organization") would have been a
very valuable thing to have during that time.
The
fact is that freedom of the press, like freedom of speech in general,
is a crucial part of the fabric of a free society. Every action that
impinges on those freedoms is a loss for society, and a step down a
slippery slope — and that applies to everything that falls under the
term "press," regardless of whether we agree with its methods or its
leaders. As the Electronic Frontier Foundation has pointed out, online
speech is only as strong as the weakest intermediary. Any action that
the government or its representatives take against a publisher like
WikiLeaks should have to meet a very high bar indeed — and as Dan
Gillmor argues, everyone working at the New York Times or any other
media outlet should feel a shiver when they see Joe Lieberman attacking
WikiLeaks, because it could just as easily be them in the spotlight
instead of Julian Assange.
http://gigaom.com/2010/12/04/like-it-or-not-wikileaks-is-a-media-entity/
Lashkar-e-Taiba's Financial Network Targets India from the Gulf States
Publication: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 7 Issue: 19
July 2, 2009 04:12 PM Age: 1 yrs
Category: Terrorism Monitor, Global Terrorism Analysis, Home Page, Terrorism, South Asia
By: Animesh Roul
Hafeez Muhammad Saeed, Founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba
An
impending threat from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)
terrorist group has prompted security establishments to raise an alert
along India's western sea-coast. According to intelligence sources, the
LeT's marine wing is planning a Mumbai-type incursion to target vital
installations in the three coastal states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and
Goa. The group is also reported to have funneled huge amounts of money
from its Gulf-based networks to fund jihad activities in India (Times of
India, June 30). This is not an isolated intelligence alert. The
threat emanating from the LeT was partially revealed following the
recent arrest of Muhammad Omar Madni, a close associate of
LeT/Jamaat-ud- Dawa chief Hafeez Muhammad Saeed. The arrest and
interrogation of Madni revealed several startling details, including new
routes used by terrorists, the location of bases inside and outside
India, terrorist finances, and the recruitment strategy of
Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Muhammad
Omar Madni, who also oversees LeT's Nepal operations, was on a mission
to recruit youths and send them to Pakistan for training. Madni
travelled widely through Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and the Gulf
nations, including Saudi Arabia, seeking funding and logistical support.
His task was to recruit educated and computer-savvy youths from the
major metropolises of India (Press Trust of India, June 7). Indian
agencies believe he is not the only LeT recruiter in the sprawling
hinterland of India (Statesman, [Kolkata], June 5). Madni's brother
Hafiz Muhammad Zubair, another Lashkar operative who worked closely with
him, is presently based in Qatar (Telegraph [Kolkata], June 6).
Besides
the usual routes of intrusion in Jammu and Kashmir, LeT has managed to
build alternate routes through the porous borders of Nepal and
Bangladesh while establishing bases in the Gulf countries. Investigating
agencies have now confirmed that LeT is working on a new strategy which
involves using Dubai as the center of planning for future strikes
against India (India Today, June 22). Past and ongoing terror
investigations suggest the Gulf countries have been the major hubs for
LeT terrorists and many terrorist plots against India are now hatched
outside Pakistan's territory.
After
groping in the dark for some time, India's intelligence agencies have
now confirmed that the Gulf link to terror in India is thriving and
there are LeT cells operating in the Gulf that have financed and
facilitated terrorist operations in India.
Mumbai's
crime branch probe revealed that the November 2008 Mumbai terror events
were financed by LeT's Gulf cells and Gulf-based operatives
masterminded and executed a series of blasts in Indian urban centers (
Bangalore, Ahmadabad, Delhi and Surat) in 2008. These operations were
carried out in collusion with militants of the Indian Mujahedeen (IM)
and the proscribed Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
While
investigating the August 2003 twin blasts in Mumbai (car bombs at the
Gateway of India and the Zaveri Bazaar), Mumbai Police unearthed a
strong Dubai link. The plot was hatched by LeT's Dubai operatives, who
colluded with sleeper cells in Hyderabad, Ernakulum and Chennai. The
blasts were claimed by an unknown group—the "Gujarat Muslim Revenge
Force" (GMRF)—one of the many groups set up by SIMI and LeT following
the 2002 Gujarat communal riots to avenge atrocities perpetrated against
the Muslim community (Press Trust of India, October 10, 2003). Hanif,
one of the Lashkar militants arrested in connection with the blasts,
reportedly told police about the planning, logistics and targets of the
LeT's GMRF wing. Since 1993, Hanif worked in Dubai as an electrician and
was sent to Mumbai in September 2002 to organize and execute the
attacks. Police also interrogated Hanif about his ties to Basheer, a
fugitive SIMI figure who fled to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) and one Abu Hamza, affiliated to Pakistan's Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI) (Frontline [Chennai], September 13-26, 2003).
Another
major example of Lashkar's Gulf connections arose in mid-2006,
following the serial commuter train blasts in Mumbai. Mumbai's
Anti-Terrorist Squad seized approximately 37,000 Saudi Riyals from the
residences of the LeT's Mumbai cell chief, Faizal Ataur Rehman Sheikh
(Indian Express, August 2, 2006). The money reportedly came in two
installments from Saudi Arabia via the hawala network operated by
Faizal's London-based brother Rahil Sheikh and another Lashkar operative
identified as Rizwan Ahmed Davre, an IT professional based in Riyadh.
[1] Rizwan acted as a conduit between the unidentified Saudi funder,
Pakistan based LeT commander Azam Cheema and Faizal Sheikh. Cheema
reportedly designated Davre the 'amir-e-baitulmaal' (chief exchequer)
for his able handling of monetary transactions (Indian Express, October
1, 2006)
Investigations
by India's intelligence agencies into the 2008 urban terrorist attacks
uncovered ties to many Gulf hotspots, especially the financial networks
in Muscat (Oman). At least four LeT operatives handled India operations
from Gulf cities like Muscat and Sharjah. They are identified as Wali
(a.k.a Shameem), Muslim Basheer, Sarfaraz Nawaz (a.k.a Hakeem Sarfoor)
and Abu Haroon. These four are believed to be of Pakistani origin and to
have been deputed in the Gulf to raise funds and monitor operations
planned for India. While Wali was involved in fundraising activities and
responsible for coordinating with SIMI and IM militants in India,
Muslim Basheer, based in Muscat, was the chief coordinator for the LeT
in the Gulf. Funds for the terrorist operations were raised by Wali, who
provided the money for the blasts and who sent youths from the
southwestern state of Kerala to Pakistan Administered Kashmir (PAK) for
terrorist training (New Indian Express [Chennai], March 27).
Investigating agencies identified Abu Haroon, a travel agent in Muscat,
as the operative who facilitated the movement of money to India from the
Gulf region through hawala channels. Abu Haroon also coordinated
between the Lashkar leadership in Pakistan and India (Rediff.com, May
27). The fourth terrorist, Sarfaraz Nawaz, another LeT man from Muscat
and a former SIMI leader who likely fled to Oman following the
countrywide crackdown on SIMI establishments, was brought from Muscat to
India in a dramatic secret operation earlier this year by India's
external intelligence agency, Research & Analysis Wing (RAW). The
swift operation surprised many Indian officials, especially in the
absence of any extradition pact between India and Oman (Rediff.com,
March 04, 2009).
Three
other terrorists involved in the July 2008 Bangalore serial blasts and
other incidents have been identified as Saleem and Jaheed from
Bangladesh (hawala operators) and Ali Abdul Azeez Hooti of Oman, the
chief terrorist financier.
The Gulf's increasing ties to terrorism resurfaced when investigations
into the November 2008 Mumbai carnage tracked a similar pattern
involving Gulf-based financiers and Lashkar coordinators. The role of
Aziz Hooti as one of the financers in this connection is currently under
probe. Hooti, the Oman based businessman and key Lashkar operative
there, was in touch with Lashkar terrorist Fahim Ansari just before late
November's carnage in Mumbai. At present, Fahim Ansari is on trial and
Aziz Hooti is in the custody of the Oman police for plotting against
Western establishments in Oman. According to the information shared
between Oman and Indian police, Aziz Hooti could have had direct ties to
the Mumbai attackers. It is now believed in investigating circles that
both Aziz Hooti and Nawaz played vital roles in financing terrorist
activities in India, especially in providing funds for Indians taking
jihadi training in the PAK region (The Hindu, May 28; Rediff.com, May
28).
Nawaz's
interrogation has revealed many facts about Lashkar's plans in
southern India. According to his statement, he and Ummer Haji, an IM
cadre and key figure in the terror network in south India, had hatched a
plan to carry out serial bomb blasts in Chennai and Bangalore (New
Indian Express, June 29). However, Lashkar's Chennai plot was dropped by
Wali due to funding issues. Haji is the man who sent Kerala youths to
Muzaffarabad in Kashmir for training. Aziz Hooti was also involved in
the Bangalore plan while the terrorist triumvirate (Wali, Nawaz and
Hooti) met in Sharjah in early 2008. Nawaz's statement also sheds some
light on Lashkar's operational strategy in southern India. Bangalore
police revealed that Nawaz was in close touch with Abdul Nazar Madhani,
leader of the People's Democratic Party (PDP - a left wing Kerala
political party) (New Indian Express [Chennai], March 28)
SIMI
has operational ties with many militant student groups, including the
Saudi Arabian Jamayyatul Ansar (JA), whose membership is comprised of
former SIMI activists and expatriate Indian Muslims. It should be
emphasized that the LeT and its Jamaat ud-Dawah (JuD) subsidiary were
born out of the Ahl-e-Hadith (AH) movement with roots in the Middle East
and in the Indian subcontinent. LeT largely draws its ideological
inspirations from this transnational Islamic puritanical movement that
openly propagates the doctrine of jihad in India. AH has been
influential in the subcontinent with active ties to Saudi Wahhabis and
strong diaspora links. One of the reasons for this could be the AH
inspired student movements (e.g. the Mujahid Students Movement) active
in Kerala with branches in Gulf countries, along with Indian Islahi
centers in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait. [2]
The
beginning of this year was marked by Islamabad's crackdown on the LeT
and other Pakistan based terror groups in which LeT came under severe
pressure from the Pakistan administration to de-escalate its jihadi
agenda against India. Despite the crackdown and the detention and
subsequent release of LeT leaders in Pakistan, the LeT is reportedly
once again looking to strike India by plotting against its vital
installations and infrastructure.
The
recent spurt of terror activities by the LeT in India has a direct
connection to contributions from the Gulf-based cells that have planned
and financed most of the group's operations. The LeT's Gulf based
networks are becoming the lifeline for LeT/JuD operations in Pakistan
and India. With this threat in view, India is now seeking a
comprehensive anti-terrorism treaty with the Gulf nations. For now,
Madani and Nawaz's confessions have provided investigating agencies an
outline of the shape of things to come regarding the LeT's plans for
terrorist operations in India.
Notes:
1.
Hawala is an informal and alternative remittance system which operates
outside of 'traditional' banking or financial channels.
2. Indian Islahi centers are Islamic
organizations working among Indians (especially Keralites) in the Gulf
countries to spread of the true message of Islam and guide Muslims away
from the clutches of superstitious traditions, blind faiths, polytheism,
etc. Indian Islahi Centers operate in almost all Gulf countries as a
subsidiary of the Kerala Nadvathul Mujahedeen. In some Gulf countries
and the northern states of India, this organization is known as Salafi
Center. All these associations are working for the propagation of Quran
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LASHKAR-E-TOIBA: Its past, present and future
by B.Raman
The
reported claim of a spokesman of the Lashkar-e-Toiba in Pakistan that
two of its suicide cadres were responsible for the murderous attack on
some Indian Army personnel inside the Red Fort in New Delhi on December
22,2000, is under verification by the Indian security agencies
The
Lashkar and its political wing called the Markaz Dawa Al Irshad have
for many years been calling for the expansion of the so-called jihad to
the rest of India from Jammu & Kashmir for creating two independent
homelands for the Muslims of South and North India. As a first step in
this jihad, it had in the past called for intensified activities in
Hyderabad and Junagadh, which it looks upon as Pakistani territory. The
Red Fort, as the seat of the Muslim rulers of the past, is an important
symbol in its eyes.
While
reporting the Red Fort attack on December 22, 2000, sections of the
foreign media described the Lashkar as a Kashmiri militant organisation.
It is not. It is a Pakistani organisation based in Pakistan and
operating from there. It is a member of Osama bin Laden's International
Islamic Front For Jihad Against the US and Israel. The wrong perceptions
abroad about this organisation need to be corrected vigorously.
The Annexure collates extracts from our past papers on the activities of the Lashkar.
(25-12-00)
(The
writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of
India, and, presently, Director, Institute for Topical Studies, Chennai.
E-Mail: corde@vsnl.com )
ANNEXURE
EXTRACTS FROM PAPER DATED 26-8-1998, TITLED " MARKAZ DAWA AL IRSHAD: TALIBANISATION OF NUCLEAR PAKISTAN":
The
activities of Osama bin Laden and his announcement of an International
Islamic Front For Jihad against the US and Israel assume ominous
significance in the context of his past and continuing links with the
Markaz Dawa Al Irshad (the Centre For Preaching) of Pakistan and the
Lashkar-e-Toiba (the Army of the Pure), its militant wing. The Markaz
and the Lashkar have been involved in acts of terrorism, not only in J
& K, but also in other parts of India.
The
Markaz was founded in 1987, at the inspiration of Osama bin Laden, by
Zafar Iqbal and Hafiz Mohammad Saeed of the University of Engineering
and Technology of Lahore and Abdullah Azam of the International Islamic
University, which has been funded by bin Laden. Abdullah Azam was killed
in an explosion at Peshawar in 1989 and, after his death, Zafar Iqbal
and Hafiz Mohammad Saeed have been leading the Markaz while continuing
to teach at the University.
The
headquarters of the Markaz, occupying over 190 acres of land, are
located at Muridke, about 45 kms from Lahore in Pakistani Punjab. Its
vast campus contains a huge Jamia mosque for the construction of which
bin Laden had reportedly contributed Rs.10 million, a garments factory,
an iron foundry, a wood works factory, a swimming pool and three
residential colonies for the inmates. A big Islamic University is also
coming up.
The
"Herald", the monthly journal of the prestigious "Dawn" group of
publications of Karachi, reported as follows in January, 1998: "While
the Dawa is involved in various areas, including religious education and
social welfare, it is mainly through its militant wing that it is well
known throughout the country. The Lashkar-e-Toiba provides military
training to its members and prepares them to wage jihad. Although the
Lashkar was initially involved in Afghanistan as well, its activities
are now restricted to Indian Kashmir. Today, it is Pakistan's largest
so-called jihadi organisation."
It
quoted an office-bearer of the Lashkar as stating as follows: " There
are many other jihadi groups operating inside Kashmir, but their members
are mainly local men (Kashmiris), assisted by fighters from other
countries, such as Pakistan and Afghanistan. Eighty per cent of the
Mujahideen in other jihadi groups operating in Kashmir come from that
area, but the case with the Lashkar is exactly the opposite. Eighty per
cent of its soldiers belong to Pakistan."
The
"Herald" added: " The Lashkar prefers not to reveal the exact number of
men it has currently deployed in Kashmir. The Amir ( Hafiz Mohammad
Saeed) decides how many Mujahideens should be sent to the (Kashmir)
Valley. The decision depends on the number of deaths that have taken
place. It also depends on the requirement and capacity of the
organisation inside Kashmir to absorb the new fighters. What is known,
however, is that the Lashkar recruits and trains many more men than it
actually requires to fight in Kashmir at any given time.
"
Compared to other similar organisations, the Lashkar has proved to be a
resounding success. Since its inception, it has managed to attract
thousands of committed young men to its fold. The driving force behind
its massive success in recruitment is deceptively simple. It uses its
impressive organisational network, which includes schools, social
service groups and religious publications, to create a passion for
jihad."
According
to the "Herald", the Lashkar organises two kinds of military training –
a 21-day basic course called "Daura Aam" and a three-months advanced
course called "Daura Khas". The entire advanced course is geared towards
guerilla warfare, with training in the use of arms and ammunition,
ambush and survival techniques. Other Pakistani press reports after the
arrest of Ramzi Yousef, (involved in the bombing of the New York World
Trade Centre in February 1993) had also revealed that in the past some
volunteers were also trained in aircraft-hijacking.
The
Markaz and the Lashkar are extremely secretive organisations and take
great care to conceal the real identities of their office-bearers except
the Amir and their fighters. For this purpose, they emulate the
Palestinian organisations in the use of "Kuniat", which are Arabic
pseudonyms adopted from the "Kuniats" of the Companions of the Prophet
and later Islamic heroes.
Whereas
in the Palestinian organisations, the "Kuniats" die with the holder and
the same "Kuniat" is not allotted to any other fighter, in the Markaz
and the Lashkar, the "Kuniat" does not die with the holder. The same
"Kuniat" is allotted to another fighter. It is not unusual to come
across two individuals with the same or similar "Kuniats".
Past
reports on the activities of the Markaz and the Lashkar had referred to
two heroes of the organisation who had reportedly played a legendary
role in assisting the Bosnian Muslims in their fight against the Serbs.
One of them used to be referred to as Abu Aziz and the other as Abu
Abdul Aziz.
Abu
Abdul Aziz, who is suspected to be none other than Osama Bin Laden, is a
leading financier of the Markaz and the Lashkar and had contributed
Rs.10 million for the construction of a mosque and another sum for the
construction of a special guest house inside the Muridke complex of
these organisations. This guest house was initially built by bin Laden
as a house for his stay during his visits to Pakistan, but, after 1992,
the Pakistani authorities do not allow him to stay in Pakistani
territory for fear of annoying the US, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. He has,
therefore, converted it into a guest house for his associates from Saudi
Arabia and elsewhere visiting Pakistan.
It
is reported that this guest house was also used as a hide-out for Ramzi
Yousef and Mir Aimal Kansi, a Pathan from Balochistan, who was arrested
and taken to the US last year and subsequently convicted and sentenced
to death for murdering two CIA officers outside the CIA's headquarters
in Washington in January, 1993.
While
Osama bin Laden no longer attends the annual gatherings of the Markaz
and the Lashkar at Muridke, he addresses them over the conference phone.
Till 1995, he used to address the gathering from his hide-out in the
Sudan and, since 1996, he has been doing so from Afghanistan. Addressing
the last annual conference at Muridke in November, 1997, over phone
from Kandahar, bin Laden said: " Those who oppose jihad are not true
Muslims."
There
is some confusion about the real identity of Abu Aziz. He used to
attend the annual conferences at Muridke till 1993 and was introduced to
the gatherings as a Saudi Muslim of Indian origin who was co-ordinating
the flow of assistance to the Bosnian Muslims. He has not been heard of
since then. It needs to be checked up whether bin Laden's parents or
other ancestors had, by any chance, migrated to Yemen from India before
proceeding from there to Saudi Arabia. If this was so, there could be a
possibility that Abu Abdul Aziz and Abu Aziz are one and the same
person—Osama bin Laden.
There
are some distinguishing characteristics about the operational methods
of the Lashkar militants. They do not shave or have a hair- cut and
allow their beard and hair to grow long and are taught to employ
extremely cruel methods such as beheading and disembowelling their
victims from the security forces and non-Muslim communities. Like
fighters of many other jihadi organisations, they generally wear
shalwars, which do not cover the ankle.
As
regards ideology, the Markaz, an Ahle Hadith organisation of Wahabi
orientation, was initially very close to Saudi Arabia, but seems to have
developed differences with it because of its proximity to Osama bin
Laden and of its contention that even Saudi Arabia does not have an
ideal Islamic society. Its criticism of the stationing of US and other
Western troops in Saudi Arabia also contributed to this. It describes
the Hindus and Jews, in that order, as the main enemies of Islam and
India and Israel as the main enemies of Pakistan. Its Amir is a strong
opponent of Western-style democracy.
The
Amir said in an interview to the "Herald": "Democracy is among the
menaces we inherited from an alien government. It is part of the system
we are fighting against. Many of our brothers feel that they can
establish an Islamic society by working within the system. They are
mistaken. It is not possible to work within a democracy and establish an
Islamic system. You just dirty your hands by dealing with it. If God
gives us a chance, we will try to bring in the pure concept of an
Islamic Caliphate."
The
"News" of Pakistan (November 23,1997) reported as follows on the
ideology and beliefs of the Markaz Amir as reflected during its annual
conference of November, 1997: "The Markaz is trying to take advantage of
the growing public discontent with the political system and widespread
corruption. Using explicit references to the hardline Taliban in
Afghanistan, it is making growing references to ending the democratic
system in Pakistan. Prof.Saeed calls for a jihad to turn Pakistan into a
pure Islamic state.
"
He rejects democracy saying that "the notion of the sovereignty of the
people is anti-Islamic. Only Allah is sovereign." The whole venue of the
congregation was full of signboards with the slogan "Jamhooriat ka
jawab, grenade and blast (the answer to democracy, grenade and blast)".
Saeed was categorical in saying that his organisation had no immediate
designs in Pakistan, even though the present system in Pakistan was not
Islamic.
"He
stated: "In fact, there is no Islamic government in the world. Not even
in Saudi Arabia, where the system is closer to Islamic teaching, but
still not fully Islamic." He expressed his happiness over the success of
the Taliban in Afghanistan.
"He
said his organisation's main interest in Pakistan was to pick people
and train them to wage jihad in countries where an unislamic government
was in power."
The
paper quoted him as saying as follows: "God has ordained every Muslim
to fight until His rule is established. We have no option but to follow
God's order. We continue to support other Islamic organisations in the
world. This is a very long battle."
The
paper concluded as follows: " The thumping success of the Muridke
gathering took the government and the intelligence agencies by
surprise…..Observers say the failure of the political government and
growing poverty have turned Pakistan into a breeding ground of
organisations carrying out jihad in various countries. Most intelligence
officers interviewed by the daily view the unchecked military training
of youngsters in the name of launching a jihad outside Pakistan as the
most serious threat to the integrity and security of the country in the
very near future."
Even
though the Pakistani authorities are concerned over the impact of the
organisation on Pakistani youth which could, in the long run, lead to
the Talibanisation of Pakistan with a Pakistani version of the Taliban
possibly getting its finger on the nuclear trigger, they continue to use
the Markaz and the Harkat-ul-Ansar, categorised as a terrorist
organisation by the US last year, in their proxy war against India and
leaders like Mr.Mushahid Hussain, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's
Information Minister, continue to openly flirt with the organisation and
bless its activities against India.
When
the Markaz was started in 1987, it had a two-fold objective: to assist
the Afghan Mujahideen and to rid Islam in Pakistan of what it projected
as the corrupting influence of Hinduism. It continues to wage a
sustained campaign against what it sees as the evil influence of sufism
and Kashmiriyat. As it looks upon Kashmiriyat as the expression of the
evil Hindu mind, many of its operations in J & K are directed
against the Hindus.
Unlike
the Kashmiri extremist organisations which describe their aim as the
right of self-determination for the Kashmiris, the Markaz describes its
objective as the liberation of the Muslims of J & K from the control
and influence of the Hindus followed by the liberation of the Muslims
of the rest of India. It describes Kashmir as the gateway to India and
calls for the creation of three Pakistans or Muslim homelands—with
Pakistan and J & K constituting one, the Muslims of North India
forming the second and the Muslims of South India, the third.
Addressing
the Lahore Press Club on February 18,1996,Amir Saeed said: "The jihad
in Kashmir would soon spread to entire India. Our Mujahideen would
create three Pakistans in India."
In
an interview to the "Takbeer" of Pakistan (October 9,1997), he said: "
We feel that Kashmir should be liberated at the earliest. Thereafter,
Indian Muslims should be aroused to rise in revolt against the Indian
Union so that India gets disintegrated.."
Amongst
other leading office-bearers of the Markaz are Yusuf Taibi, who is in
charge of external relations, and Amir Hamza, Editor of its journal
called " Majla Al Dawa", which claims to have a circulation of 70,000
(Rs.12 per copy). The Markaz describes photo cameras, TV sets and movie
films as unIslamic. It carries out periodic campaigns for the
destruction in public of cameras and TV sets and appeals to the public
not to see films.
The
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan and the CIA made full use
of the Markaz against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan. After the
withdrawal of the Soviet troops, the CIA cut off its links with the
organisation, but the ISI has been continuing to use it to instigate
acts of terrorism not only in Kashmir, but also in other parts of India.
The Markaz's objective of radicalising sections of the Muslim community
in North and South India and setting them up against the Hindus and the
Union of India suits the operational aims of the ISI.
At
the same time, the Pakistani authorities have been concerned over the
Markaz's links with Osama bin Laden and other anti-monarchy Saudi
dissidents. Their discomfiture is likely to increase with the
announcement by bin Laden of the formation of an International Islamic
Front against the US and Israel.
The
threat posed to regional peace and stability by the Markaz and the
Lashkar needs to be adequately highlighted in international fora.
EXTRACT FROM PAPER DATED 3-11-98 TITLED " US BOMBING OF TERRORIST CAMPS IN AFGHANISTAN: AN ANALYSIS"
THE ISLAMIC FRONT FOR JIHAD AGAINST THE US & ISRAEL
The following groups are believed to have joined his Front:
(a).
The Jamatul Jihad of Egypt led by Dr.al-Zawahiri. bin Laden understands
English, but cannot speak fluently. Dr.al-Zawahiri, who speaks English
without difficulty, therefore, acts as his spokesman.
(b).
Another Egyptian group led by Abu Asim ("kuniyat" or assumed name and
not real name), a son of Sheikh Omer Abdur Rehman, the blind Egyptian
cleric, who is undergoing imprisonment in the US for his involvement in
the bombing of the World Trade Centre in New York in February, 1993. Two
other sons of the Sheikh are also living in the Kandahar area.
(C).
A third Egyptian group led by Shawqi Islam Bolo, brother of Khalid
Islam Bolo, one of the assassins of President Anwar Sadat of Egypt.
(d). The Harkat-ul-Mujahideen of Pakistan and its two splinter groups.
(e). The Markaz Dawa Al Irshad of Pakistan and its militant wing the Lashkar-e- Toiba.
(f).
The Sipah-e-Sahaba of Pakistan, an extremist Sunni organisation, which
has been campaigning for the proclamation of Pakistan as a Sunni State
and is believed to be responsible for the murder of a number of Shia
leaders of Pakistan.
(g).
The Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, the organisation of bin Laden,
consisting exclusively of Arab volunteers of Afghan war vintage. Most of
them are Saudis and Yemenis with a small sprinkling of Egyptians,
Sudanese and Palestinians from Jordan and the Israeli-occupied
territories.
(h). Groups from Tadjikistan, Xinjiang and the Philippines, whose identities are not clear.
BIN LADEN'S INFRASTRUCTURE IN AFGHANISTAN
What
is described as bin Laden's terrorist infrastructure in Afghanistan
consists of the training camps of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, which had
been in existence even before the arrival of Bin Laden in Jalalabad in
May, 1996, the camps of Gulbuddin Heckmatyar, the Afghan Mujahideen
leader, which were taken over by the Taliban and handed over to the
Harkat-ul-Mujahideen or Bin Laden and the camps set up during the 1980s
by Jalaluddin Haqqani, another Mujahideen leader, who has since joined
the Taliban. Contrary to the claims of US officials, these were not
sophisticated training facilities, but improvised structures to put up
the trainees.
EXTRACT FROM PAPER DATED 21-7-99, TITLED "ISI'S POST-KARGIL PLANS"
In
the proxy war launched by the ISI in the State in 1989, the operating
principle was "hit and run", the aim being to create demoralisation in
the Indian security forces and the civilian population by inflicting
large casualties on them. "Liberation" and occupation of territory was
not the immediate objective. The ISI had calculated that if it kept the
Indian security forces bleeding, political and public opinion in India
would ultimately realise the futility of holding on to the State.
The
proxy invasion plan of Pakistan's Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), Gen.
Pervez Musharraf, changed the operating principle to one of "occupy and
hit", the aim being to set up a bridgehead by occupying the ridges in
the Kargil sector left unguarded by the Indian army during winter and
thereafter spread the area under occupation each winter by taking
advantage of its logistic difficulties. The role of the Pakistan army
became primary in this operation and that of the ISI and the
militant-cum-terrorist groups secondary.
The
proxy invasion plan having failed partly due to the vigorous operations
of the Indian army and Air Force and partly due to international
pressure on Pakistan, Islamabad has now reverted back to the earlier
operating principle of "hit and run", with the primary role once again
being assumed by the ISI and its surrogates in the State.
The
ISI's proxy war has passed through two stages. During the first stage
(1989-92), the ISI played a direct role in providing financial, training
and arms assistance to militant groups in the State. No intermediaries
were used and assistance was given to any group, which was prepared to
indulge in violence.
A
large number of Kashmiri militant groups received ISI assistance during
this period--some led by the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) of the
Jamaat-e-Islami which advocated merger of the State with Pakistan and
others by the Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), which wanted
independence. Within a few months of the start of the proxy war, the
pro-independence groups set up their ascendancy over the pro-Pakistan
groups.
Till
1992, the US and other Western countries looked upon the extremists as
"freedom-fighters" and not terrorists. However, the situation changed
after the extremists' attack on a group of Israeli tourists in Srinagar
in 1992.
For
the first time, there was concern in the West over the terrorist
methods of these groups and over the role of the ISI in assisting them.
There was also increasing interest in non-governmental circles in the US
close to the Clinton Administration in the aims and objectives of the
pro-independence groups. The feasibility of independence as a solution
became the subject of study by many of these non-governmental groups.
Concerned
over these developments, the ISI introduced two changes in 1993. First,
it started using intermediaries for keeping the militancy alive instead
of directly doing so. Second, it cut off assistance to all
pro-independence groups and made future assistance dependent on the
recipient group supporting merger with Pakistan.
The
first organisation chosen as the intermediary was the Jamaat-e-Islami
of Pakistan headed by Qazi Hussain Ahmed. Funds and arms and ammunition
were given to it and it was asked to take over the responsibility for
running training camps in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) and
Afghanistan with the help of Afghan veterans and for distributing money
and weapons to different pro-Pakistan groups. Most of the assistance
went to the HM.
In
1993, the Taliban had not yet appeared on the scene in Afghanistan and
the Hizb-e-Islami of Gulbuddin Heckmatyar was still the most important
and favored Pakhtoon Mujahideen group in Afghanistan. The recruits of
the HM were trained in camps in Afghan territory by instructors of
Hizb-e-Islami and the Afghan mercenaries who came into Kashmir with the
HM were followers of Heckmatyar.
Subsequently,
the ISI started using the Markaz Dawa Al Irshad and its militant wing
called the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Harkat-ul-Ansar (HuA) too as
intermediaries for funneling assistance to the extremists in the State.
These organisations, of Wahabi orientation, are closer to the
Jamiat-ul-Ulema Islam of Pakistan headed by Maulana Fazlur Rahman and to
the Taliban.
The
ISI saw in the anger in the Indian Muslim community caused by the
demolition of the Babri Masjid in December, 1992, an opportunity to
drive a wedge between the Hindus and Muslims in the rest of India,
thereby adding to the difficulties of the Government of India. It also
wanted the extremist groups supported by it in Kashmir to attack the
Hindus of the Jammu Division in order to drive them out.
Thus,
from 1993, the ISI's assistance to the extremist groups in the State
was made conditional on their supporting merger with Pakistan, agreeing
to attack the Hindus in the Jammu Division and assisting the alienated
sections of the Muslim youth in the rest of India in developing a
militant capability by training them in their camps in Kashmiri
territory.
The
Jammat-e-Islami and the HM were reluctant to accept these conditions as
they did not want to extend their operational aims beyond Kashmir, but
the Lashkar, the HuA and the Al Badr, which subsequently came into the
picture, readily accepted them. They thus became the privileged groups
of the ISI from 1994 onwards and have now been orchestrating most of the
violence in the State.
Though the HM, the Lashkar, the HuA and the Al Badr still claim to be working together, important differences divide them:
*
The HM is essentially an organisation of indigenous Kashmiris, but the
other three consist largely of Pakistanis, Afghans and Arab mercenaries.
*
The HM describes its aim as the liberation of Kashmir from the control
of the Government of India and its merger with Pakistan. The other three
describe their aim as the liberation of Kashmir from the control of the
Hindus and its merger with Pakistan, to be followed by a similar
"liberation" of the Muslims in the rest of India. These three
organisations view Kashmir as the "gateway to India" and call for the
creation of two more Muslim homelands--one for the Muslims of North
India and the other for those of South India.
*
In pursuance of their aims, the Lashkar and the HuA have been spreading
their presence to the rest of India and networking with Islamic
extremist groups in other States.
*
The HM is close to Heckmatyar whereas the other three are supporters of
the Taliban. Angered by the proximity of the HM to Heckmatyar, the
Taliban has closed down its training camps in Afghanistan and expelled
its office-bearers from there.
*
The Lashkar, the HuA and the Al Badr are strongly against the US,
Israel and the ruling family of Saudi Arabia and are members of Osama
bin Laden's International Islamic Front for Jihad against the US and
Israel, but the HM keeps away from the anti-US and anti-Saudi ruling
family activities of bin Laden.
In
its eagerness to achieve its objectives against India, Pakistan,
through the ISI, has thus been following contradictory policies. It
seeks US support for the internationalisation of the Kashmir issue, but
has been arming groups, which vow to attack American targets, in order
to use them against India. It describes Saudi Arabia as its closest
Islamic ally, but has been sheltering groups which are carrying on a
campaign against the Saudi ruling family and the presence of US troops
in Saudi Arabia.
The
increasing concern in the US intelligence community over the use of
these anti-US and anti-Israel groups by Pakistan in its attempts to
destabilise India is an important reason for the sympathetic attitude of
the US towards India during the conflict in the Kargil sector.
The
US declared the HuA as an international terrorist organisation in
October, 1997, after which it has re-named itself as the
Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and there have been reports that the US is
collecting evidence against the Lashkar in order to make a similar
declaration against it.
Despite
this, the ISI, with the approval of the Sharif Government, continues to
use these organisations to massacre Hindus in the Jammu Division and to
organise acts of violence in the Valley too. An intensification of such
terrorist violence not only in Jammu & Kashmir, but also in other
parts of India is to be expected in the wake of the set-back suffered by
the Pakistan army in the Kargil area. Another danger is the possibility
of attacks on American targets in India by these organisations to give
vent to their anger against the US and to create embarrassment to the
Government of India in its relations with the US.
EXTRACT FROM PAPER DATED 19-11-99, TITLED "BADAMIBAGH AND AFTER"
"The scruff of their (the militants') neck is in our hands; whenever
you want, we could regulate it." ---Lt.Gen.Mohammed Aziz, Chief of the
General Staff (CGS) of the Pakistan Army, while reporting over phone to
Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), then at Beijing
on May 29 as revealed by the transcript of their conversation released
by the Govt. of India.
The
CGS was referring to the terrorists of the Pakistan-based
Lashkar-e-Toiba (LT), the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM) and the Al Badr,
who had been sent in advance by the Pakistan Army to occupy the ridges
in the Kargil sector before regular Pakistani troops moved in and
replaced them.
The
LT, which has organised a number of suicidal attacks on the Indian
security forces in Kashmir, including the latest one on the 15 Corps
Headquarters at Badamibagh on November3/4, the HUM and the Al Badr are
members of Osama bin Laden's International Islamic Front For Jihad
Against the US and Israel.
While
the HUM, previously known as the Harkat-ul-Ansar, was declared by the
US on October 1,1997,as an international terrorist organisation under
the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, the LT and
the Al Badr have not been so declared till now, presumably because,
unlike the HUM, these two organisations, despite their anti-American
rhetoric, have avoided any attacks on American lives or property.
Since
October, 1997, the HUM has not been claiming direct responsibility for
its terrorist acts in Kashmir. Instead, it lets the Hizbul Mujahideen
(HM), an ostensibly Kashmiri organisation controlled by Pakistan-based
Salahuddin, claim the responsibility in order to give the impression to
the outside world that, contrary to the claims of the Govt. of India,
indigenous Kashmiri organisations have kept up their fight for the right
of self-determination.
The
Al Badr is a splinter group of the HM, which was formed by some
Pakistani members of the HM, who did not like the latter's continued
support of Gulbuddin Heckmatyar, the anti-Taliban Afghan Pakhtun leader.
Unlike
the indigenous Kashmiri extremist organisations, whose objectives are
limited to Kashmir, the LT, the HUM and the Al Badr look upon Kashmir as
the gateway of India and describe their objective as the 'liberation"
of the Muslims in the rest of India after occupying Kashmir. The LT,
which is the militant wing of the Markaz Dawa Al Irshad, calls for the
liberation of Junagadh too and for the creation of two more independent
homelands for the Muslims of North and South India.
With
this objective in view, it has been infiltrating its cadres into other
parts of India too and its presence has been reported as far down south
as Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh.
The
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has been mainly relying on the LT and
the HUM since the latter part of the first tenure of Mr.Nawaz Sharif as
the Prime Minister (1990-93) as it found the indigenous Kashmiri
organisations to be ineffective and unwilling to carry out its orders to
drive out the Hindus from the Jammu Division and the Buddhists from
Ladakh in order to reduce the proportion of non-Muslims in the State.
The
infiltration of these organisations was intensified during Mrs.Benazir
Bhutto's second tenure (1993-96) under the directions of Gen. Musharraf,
the then Director-General of Military Operations, and Lt.Gen. Mohammed
Aziz, Deputy Director-General of the ISI till February, 1999, when he
took over as the CGS.. Gen. Musharraf and Lt.Gen. Aziz were the handling
officers of bin Laden and his group and the plan to use them for
facilitating the Kargil invasion was largely their idea.
As
young officers of the Special Services Group (SSG), raised with the
assistance of the US Green Berets, they had worked in close co-operation
with the officers of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) against
the Soviet troops in Afghanistan during the 1980s and in training
terrorists like bin Laden, Mir Aimal Kansi, who killed two CIA officers
outside their office in Washington in January, 1993, and Ramzi Yousef,
who was involved in the bombing of the World Trade Centre at New York in
February,1993.
The
anger of Kansi and Ramzi against the US was due to what they looked
upon as the CIA's alleged breach of its promise to help them settle down
in good jobs in the US after the withdrawal of the Soviet troops from
Afghanistan.
Gen.
Musharraf, now the Chief Executive of Pakistan, and Lt.Gen. Aziz had
also commanded SSG troops in the Northern Areas of Pakistan (Gilgit and
Baltistan) and their efforts to dislodge the Indian troops from the
Siachen glacier in the 1980s had been repulsed by the Indian army with
heavy casualties.
The
two, therefore, share an obsessive desire to teach the Indian army a
lesson. This obsession is further strengthened by their ethnic
background.
Mohajir
public servants, who are migrants from India, generally feel a
compulsive urge to take a virulently anti-India line in order to show
themselves to be more devoted to the Pakistani cause than their Punjabi
counterparts. Gen. Musharraf, a Mohajir, is no exception to this rule.
Lt.Gen.Aziz is stated to be from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) and this motivates his anti-India actions.
In
the Pakistan Army, these two have always been strong advocates of the
need to keep the Indian army bleeding in Kashmir just as the Afghan
Mujahideen kept the Soviet troops bleeding and to bottle up the Indian
troops in the Siachen area by capturing the Dras-Kargil road.
Having
failed in the Kargil adventure, they are now focussing on their first
objective of using the LT, the HUM and the Al Badr for keeping the
Indian security forces bleeding, in the fond hope that this might
ultimately force India to abandon Kashmir.
With
Gen. Musharraf now emerging as the ruler of Pakistan and with
Lt.Gen.Aziz as his most trusted aide, terrorist actions of these
organisations are likely to increase further.
While
this would call for the further strengthening of defensive protective
security measures to prevent disasters like the one at Badamibagh and
offensive patrolling to neutralise the intruders from Pakistan, this
alone would not be sufficient to deal with the situation.
The
Government of India is justified in insisting that there would be no
resumption of dialogue with Pakistan till it stops its sponsorship of
terrorism in Indian territory. India should make this sponsorship the
core issue of Indo-Pakistan relations and rule out any talks on Kashmir
till certain specific benchmarks with regard to stoppage of terrorism
are fulfilled by Pakistan.
India
should also freeze its efforts for the normalisation of trade relations
with Pakistan till its sponsorship of terrorism stops. It should
withdraw its unilateral grant of the most favoured nation status to
Pakistan, which the latter has not reciprocated, completely ban
bilateral trade and take effective action to stop all indirect trade,
either across the border or via Singapore and Dubai.
Even
after more than 50 years of independence, Pakistan is still a
four-commodity and one-port economy. Over 70 per cent of its tax revenue
and foreign exchange earnings comes from cotton, cotton-based textiles
and sports and leather goods and Karachi continues to be the only
reliable port for foreign trade.
Because
of the scarcity of foreign exchange since 1990, Pakistani textile and
sugar mills have been illegally importing from India via Singapore and
Dubai machinery and spare parts required for keeping their mills going.
Similarly, machinery and spare ports for the Karachi port also illegally
go from India.
By
effectively stopping this, India could make Pakistan pay an economic
price for its sponsorship of terrorism in India. This is one of the
proactive options available to India, which needs to be seriously
considered. No country in the world can object to this.
So
long as Pakistan under Gen. Musharraf follows a policy of making India
bleed at the hands of terrorists, there is no reason why we should have
any compunction about not letting it come out of its economic quagmire
till it abandons its sponsorship of terrorism.
EXTRACT FROM PAPER DATED 15-2-00 TITLED "NATIONAL SECURITY--POINTS TO PONDER"
*
Islamic terrorism. Its threat will continue and even increase due to
external support from the State of Pakistan as well as from the Islamic
fundamentalist organisations of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.
The old Communist international has been replaced by an Islamic
International, consisting of various Islamic fundamentalist
organisations with roots in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Their objective
vis-à-vis India: To "liberate" the Muslims of not only Kashmir, but also
the rest of India from "Hindu control". They talk of two more
independent homelands for the Muslims of the sub-continent--one in North
India and the other in the South.
*
The need for a coherent policy to counter Pakistan's covert war. While
the present Government talks of a proactive strategy, it doesn't seem to
be clear in its mind about the components of this strategy. Amongst the
components should be: a determination not to let Pakistan come out of
its economic morass till it stops its covert war; a readiness to hurt
the Pakistani State and society at a place of our choice in terrain
favourable to us. In Kashmir, the terrain is not favourable to us except
in the Jammu sector. To really hurt Pakistan, we have to direct our
proactive strategy at its Punjab and Sindh, and particularly at Karachi.
While India has a credible nuclear deterrent, it does not have a
credible covert warfare deterrent, whereas Pakistan has developed its
covert warfare capability over a period of nearly 20 years, with
American assistance in the 1980s.
*
Pakistan-based Islamic fundamentalist organisations have been
increasingly turning their attention to South India. After Tamil Nadu
and Kerala, they are now focussing on Andhra Pradesh. There has never
been a convincing analysis of why Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI) has been flirting with the LTTE, despite the latter's anti-Muslim
activities in Sri Lanka's Eastern Province. One possibility, not yet
proved, but suggested by foreign counter-terrorism experts in the past
is that in return for the ISI's assistance, the LTTE, through its
supporters in Tamil Nadu, has been training the cadres of the Al Ummah
and other jihadi organisations of South India and providing them with
material assistance.
*
We need a separate strategy to deal with threats from the foreign-based
Islamic jihadi organisations. Such a strategy should tackle prevention
of illegal migrations of Muslims from Bangladesh and Pakistan,
identification and deportation of past illegal migrants, the flow of
foreign funds for mosques and madrasas, the scrutiny of the credentials
of foreign Muslim students who are admitted to educational institutions
in India etc. In the past, even counter-terrorism experts of Islamic
countries such as Algeria and Egypt had expressed surprise over the ease
with which students black-listed in their countries because of their
association with extremist organisations managed to get admission to
educational institutions in India.
NATIONAL SECURITY TOOLS
*
Intelligence collection and analysis. Improving, but still weak with
serious gaps in coverage and monitoring. Anticipation and prevention
continues to be the weakest link in our national security management.
While the strengthening of the intelligence collection capability of the
central organisations such as the IB, the RAW and the various military
intelligence directorates has been receiving attention, equal attention
has not been paid to improving the intelligence collection capabilities
of the States. The Centre has to play a more proactive role in this
regard.
*
Assessment and follow-up action. . Even the best of intelligence would
be useless if it is not assessed promptly to identify looming threats
and initiate follow-up action. This has not been given the attention it
deserves. For this purpose, the National Security Council (NSC) needs a
full-fledged Secretariat. In all countries with the NSC mechanism, the
Secretariat is the nerve-centre and permanent watch-dog on all matters
likely to affect national security. We still seem to have a miniscule
Secretariat with no teeth.
*
Enforcement of physical and infrastructure security. Very weak as seen
by the ease with which the jihadi suicide squads have been penetrating
high security areas in Kashmir and the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen terrorists
recently hijacked the Indian Airlines plane.
*
Crisis Management. Again unsatisfactory. Past crisis management drills
dealt only with conventional threats such as hijacking, hostage-taking,
assassinations etc. We need separate drills supervised and co-ordinated
by professional experts to deal with crises involving weapons of mass
destruction (nuclear, chemical and biological) and weapons of mass
disruption (hacking, injection of computer virus etc).
EXTRACT FROM PAPER DATED 27-11-00 TITLED "INTERNATIONAL ISLAMISM"
What do these forces, which are in the forefront of the so-called jehad in Jammu & Kashmir, say? They propagate that:
*
Jammu & Kashmir is not their only agenda vis-à-vis India. It is
only the first item in their agenda. The other items are the
"liberation" of the Muslims in the rest of India in order to create two
more "Muslim Homelands" in South Asia--one in North India and the other
in the South.
*
J & K is the gateway to India. Once they control J & K, they
would use it as a rear base for "liberating" the Muslims in the rest of
India.
*
After J & K, their priorities would be Hyderabad and Junagadh.
According to them, these two areas rightly belonged to Pakistan and the
Ummah; and they have a religious duty to "liberate" them and bring them
into the Ummah. Thereafter, they would turn their attention to the rest
of India.
http://www.southasiaanalysis.org//papers2/paper175.htm
WikiLeaks lists sites U.S. says vital to interests
By Keith Weir | Reuters – Tue, Dec 7 4:12 AM IST
Related content
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- WikiLeaks lists sites U.S. says vital to interests
LONDON
(Reuters) - WikiLeaks published more details of sites around the globe
that the United States considers vital to its interests, prompting
strong criticism that the website is helping militants identify
sensitive targets for attack.
The details are part of 250,000 diplomatic cables obtained and being made public by the website.
The
list begins with a cobalt mine in Kinshasa, Congo and refers to various
locations in Europe where drug companies produce insulin, treatment for
snake bites and foot and mouth vaccines.
In
the Middle East, it notes that Qatar will be the largest source of
imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 2012 and also refers to the
Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia, the largest crude oil process and
stabilization plant in the world.
Al
Qaeda mounted an unsuccessful attack on Abqaiq in 2006, and there were
warnings that the WikiLeaks cable setting out so many sensitive targets
could help militants.
The release of the information drew strong condemnation from the United States and the United Kingdom.
"Let
me condemn in the strongest terms the leaks of information" about the
sites, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters in Washington.
"The American people themselves have been put at risk by these actions
that I believe are arrogant, misguided and ultimately do not help in any
way."
Holder
also said the Obama administration was considering using laws in
addition to the U.S. Espionage Act to possibly prosecute for the release
of the information.
The
State Department called the release "irresponsible" and warned that
such information about critical infrastructure supporting the U.S.
economy and other countries could play into the hands of al Qaeda.
"Information
is classified for good reason, most especially information involving
critical infrastructure that supports our economy and those of other
countries," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in an emailed
statement.
"(WikiLeaks
founder) Julian Assange has released what amounts to a targeting list
that will be of interest to groups like al Qaeda," Crowley said.
"REPREHENSIBLE"
British Foreign Secretary William Hague called the publication of the list "particularly reprehensible."
"There
is great concern of course about disclosing a list of targets that
could be of use to terrorists or saboteurs," he told BBC radio. "I think
it is absolutely reprehensible the publication is carried out without
regard to wider concerns of security, the security of millions of
people."
John
J. LeBeau, a former CIA officer who teaches security studies at the
George C. Marshall Center in Germany, said the list "might put ideas
into jihadist heads as to what to profitably target."
"The
real story here though, I think, is that putting this type of material
online makes clear that WikiLeaks does not care about the consequences
of its actions," he told Reuters.
"If the leaks complicate the security posture of the U.S., or the West in general, WikiLeaks is indifferent."
Professor
Richard Aldrich of Warwick University in central England said it had
the potential to help militants find targets in energy security.
"We're pointing out to them how they should change our behavior to hurt us more," he told Reuters.
"This document has been given very wide currency. It's improbable to think that the terrorists are not taking notice."
The
cable sets out details of facilities whose loss could impact the public
health, economic or national security of the United States. It was
drawn up after the State Department last year asked U.S. missions abroad
for a list of such sites.
It
refers to places where undersea communications cables reach land and
energy routes including the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline which runs
from Azerbaijan to Turkey.
PAPERS STAYED AWAY
"While
we're not commenting on specific details in the stolen documents, a
list of critical infrastructure would certainly fall into the category
of damaging material that provides our adversaries with valuable
information," U.S. military spokesman Colonel David Lapan said.
"This is one of many reasons why we believe WikiLeaks' actions are irresponsible and dangerous," Lapan said.
Two
news organizations involved in the initial publication of stories based
on the WikiLeaks cache of State Department documents did not publish
stories about the cable listing sensitive infrastructure sites overseas.
Neither
Britain's The Guardian nor The New York Times mentioned the cable in
their coverage although it was included in a WikiLeaks document dump to
them months ago.
Guardian
Editor Alan Rusbridger told Reuters his staff made a conscious decision
not to run a story about the cable or link to it because they were
uneasy about its content.
"We're comfortable not to have done this one," he said.
A
person familiar with the views of other journalists who had early
access to the cable said that the view among key reporters was that the
document contained little information of news value, but at the same
time had information that could be quite useful to militants.
Bill
Keller, executive editor of the New York Times, said that while his
paper had received the cable some time ago, his reporting staff did not
"focus on the cable until it popped up in the British press today." He
said the cable did not "fit neatly into any" of the "thematic boxes"
that Times journalists had chosen for organizing coverage of the massive
cache.
Keller said however that had they paid more attention to it earlier, "I'm sure we would have deemed it unfit to print."
He
said the newspaper would have decided the material was not appropriate
to be written about for two reasons: that "nothing in it was
particularly new," and because the contents of the cable "could be taken
as an invitation to terrorists."
(Additional
reporting by William Maclean and Adrian Croft in London, Jeremy
Pelofsky, Andrew Quinn and Mark Hosenball in Washington; Editing by
Maria Golovnina, and Eric Walsh)Australia blames US for leaks, Assange in UK jail
Reuters - Valentin Flauraud - 1 hour ago
A screen shot of a web browser shows the WikiLeaks home page with a portrait of its founder Julian Assange in Lavigny, December 4, 2010. By Rob Taylor and Keith Weir BRISBANE, Australia/LONDON (Reuters) - Australia blamed the United States on Wednesday ...
Assange 'not responsible for security breaches' says Kevin Rudd
The Guardian - 3 hours ago
Australia's foreign minister said the US government and whoever originally leaked 250000 diplomatic cables should bear the responsibility for any security breaches – not the Australian WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange. Kevin Rudd said legal liability ...
Assange v Swedish laws
BBC News - 1 hour ago
Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, is fighting against extradition from Britain to Sweden where he faces allegations of rape and coercing women into having sex - accusations which his defenders say are part of a conspiracy to silence him. ...
"Mr Assange is not himself responsible for the unauthorized release of 250,000 documents from the US diplomatic communications network," Rudd told Reuters in an interview.
more by Kevin Rudd - 5 hours ago - Reuters (174 occurrences)
Extradition issues
BBC News - Clive Coleman - 47 minutes ago
The founder of whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, Julian Assange, has been refused bail by a court in London but vowed to fight extradition to Sweden - but what are the issues involved? ...
US espionage trial 'endgame' for Assange
The Australian - Paul Maley, Mark Dodd - 1 hour ago
LAWYERS for whistleblower Julian Assange say the 39-year-old Australian will not be safe if he is sent to Sweden for trial. This is because the "endgame" of American authorities is to move him to the US to be charged with espionage. ...
WikiLeaks cables and Julian Assange: live coverage
The Guardian - 4 hours ago
9.41am: There's been an almighty backlash to a piece in the Huffington Post by the writer Naomi Wolf defending Julian Assange against the rape charges. In a sarcastic open letter to Interpol, Wolf wrote: As a feminist, I am also pleased that the ...
Julia Gillard left to face Julian Assange backlash
The Australian - Chris Merritt, Mark Dodd - 1 hour ago
JULIA Gillard has been confronted with the prospect that her strong condemnation of Julian Assange might have backfired. It may have helped to transform the WikiLeaks founder from international pariah to hero of the human rights lobby. ...
Wikileaks: Kevin Rudd blames US for release of diplomatic cables
Telegraph.co.uk - Bonnie Malkin - 57 minutes ago
Kevin Rudd, the former Australian prime minister, has blamed America for the release of thousands of classified diplomatic cables by Wikileaks and called into question US security measures surrounding confidential information. ...
Headache for PM over how to proceed in wake of WikiLeaks
The Australian - Cameron Stewart - 1 hour ago
Australia faces the greatest political fallout of any nation after the US from the WikiLeaks controversy. As jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange rapidly morphs from an ordinary Australian into a global symbol for free speech, he is posing an acute ...
Hackers strike back to support WikiLeaks founder
The Associated Press - 1 hour ago
LONDON (AP) — WikiLeaks supporters struck back Wednesday at perceived enemies of founder Julian Assange, attacking the websites of Swedish prosecutors, the Swedish lawyer whose clients have accused Assange of sexual crimes and the Swiss authority that ...
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Dec 7, 2010 - Times of India
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Dec 7, 2010 - AFP
Julian Assange to be questioned by British police
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Legal Tangle Tightens Around WikiLeaks, Julian Assange
PBS News Hour - 12 hours ago Watch video
<div class="video-thumb thumbnail"><a class="js-link thumbnail-toggle" href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="return false;"><img src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/uq7j_DxKJJE/default.jpg" alt="" class="thumbnail" width="120" height="90"> <div class="icon play-icon"></div></a></div> <div class="video-details"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq7j_DxKJJE">Legal Tangle Tightens Around WikiLeaks, Julian Assange</a> <span class="source">PBS News Hour</span> - 12 hours ago <div class="icon video-icon"></div> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq7j_DxKJJE">Watch video</a></div>
WikiLeaks' Assange Surrenders, But Denies Any Wrongdoing
PBS News Hour - 12 hours ago Watch video
<div class="video-thumb thumbnail"><a class="js-link thumbnail-toggle" href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="return false;"><img src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/w0te3lTGVP4/default.jpg" alt="" class="thumbnail" width="120" height="90"> <div class="icon play-icon"></div></a></div> <div class="video-details"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0te3lTGVP4">WikiLeaks' Assange Surrenders, But Denies Any Wrongdoing</a> <span class="source">PBS News Hour</span> - 12 hours ago <div class="icon video-icon"></div> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0te3lTGVP4">Watch video</a></div>
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in custody
ITN NEWS - 13 hours ago Watch video
<div class="video-thumb thumbnail"><a class="js-link thumbnail-toggle" href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="return false;"><img src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Vmngb883a0I/default.jpg" alt="" class="thumbnail" width="120" height="90"> <div class="icon play-icon"></div></a></div> <div class="video-details"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmngb883a0I">WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in custody</a> <span class="source">ITN NEWS</span> - 13 hours ago <div class="icon video-icon"></div> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmngb883a0I">Watch video</a></div>
WikiLeaks Founder Jailed, Site Future in Doubt
The Associated Press - 16 hours ago Watch video
<div class="video-thumb thumbnail"><a class="js-link thumbnail-toggle" href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="return false;"><img src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/B_gtLuOwyCs/default.jpg" alt="" class="thumbnail" width="120" height="90"> <div class="icon play-icon"></div></a></div> <div class="video-details"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_gtLuOwyCs">WikiLeaks Founder Jailed, Site Future in Doubt</a> <span class="source">The Associated Press</span> - 16 hours ago <div class="icon video-icon"></div> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_gtLuOwyCs">Watch video</a></div>
UK: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested in London
France 24 - 20 hours ago Watch video
<div class="video-thumb thumbnail"><a class="js-link thumbnail-toggle" href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="return false;"><img src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zjgZjoQ-peE/default.jpg" alt="" class="thumbnail" width="120" height="90"> <div class="icon play-icon"></div></a></div> <div class="video-details"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjgZjoQ-peE">UK: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested in London</a> <span class="source">France 24</span> - 20 hours ago <div class="icon video-icon"></div> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjgZjoQ-peE">Watch video</a></div>
All related videos »Opposition toughens its stand on JPC demand
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A view of the parliament building on the opening day of the session to pass... New Delhi: With the Congress rejecting NDA's offer for a special session to complete pending business of Parliament, the Opposition day toughened its stand on the demand for ...
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PTI On the day when CBI raided former Telecom Minister A. Raja's residences, the opposition heat over the demand for a JPC probe in the 2G spectrum allocation scam shut Parliament for the 19th working day on Wednesday. The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha ...
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The Hindu - 5 hours ago
PTI The Hindu Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee addressing the media at Parliament House in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photo: RV Moorthy Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said key UPA ally Trinamool Congress would abide by the decision of the ...
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Business Standard - 5 hours ago
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NetIndian - 59 minutes ago
For the 19th day in succession, both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned for the day without transacting any business as a determined Opposition persisted with its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the alleged 2G ...
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Indian Express - Dec 3, 2010
Behind the Congress's adamant stand against forming a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the 2G spectrum scam is the destabilising reality of numbers in Parliament. It's learnt that Congress troubleshooters carried out an internal exercise ...
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NEW DELHI: Raising the pitch on their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the 2G spectrum scam, 11 non-Bharatiya Janata Party and non-Congress parties on Monday declared that there was nothing wrong if Prime Minister Manmohan ...
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