llyas Kashmiri The Top Al-Qaeda Man Killed

Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri, a key suspect in the Mumbai attacks, was among nine militants killed in a US drone strike, BBC reported today, quoting residents of South Waziristan tribal region.

The US drones targeted a location 20 km from Wana, one of the main towns in South Waziristan late last night.

A drone fired two missiles at the spot and two more missiles were fired after a short interval, local residents were quoted as saying by BBC Urdu.

The local residents said Kashmiri was among the nine militants killed in the drone strike.

Kashmiri, 47, is considered one of the most feared operational commanders of the network that Osama bin Laden founded and has been blamed for a string of high-profile attacks on western targets, as well as in India and Pakistan.

The United States has put out a $5 million reward — the maximum for any most-wanted target — for any information that might help locate him.

He has been blamed for multiple attacks in Pakistan, including the recent May 22 siege on a naval air base in Karachi.

Counter-terrorism officials believe he was the main coordinator of a terror plot targeting Britain, France, Germany and the United States, which was apparently in the early stages when detected by intelligence agencies in 2010.

Two intelligence officials in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan, also confirmed that those killed on Friday were all Kashmiri’s fighters.

India to send corrected list of fugitives to Pakistan in 2 weeks

New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) India will formally communicate to Pakistan about the errors in the list of 50 most wanted fugitives given to it by handing over a correct list within two weeks.

The CBI, NIA and other agencies were reviewing the entire list after finding two errors in it and India will formally convey to Pakistan about the mistakes and give a correct list within two weeks, government officials said.

The list was handed over to Pakistan during the Home Secretary-level talks in March. However, it was found that one person named in the list has been living in a Mumbai suburb while another person has been lodged in a jail in the metropolis.

Pakistan Planned The Murder Of Innocent US Citizens in Mumbai

Prosecutors accused a Chicago businessman Monday of facilitating the November 2008 terrorist attacks that killed more than 160 people in Mumbai, India. But the defense argued that he was an unwitting victim betrayed by a business associate and longtime friend.

As Tahawwur Hussain Rana's trial began in a Chicago courtroom Monday, prosecutors said he allowed his office, First World Immigration Services, to be used as a front for a co-conspirator traveling abroad to scout possible locations for the terrorist attacks, according to court records.

Rana is also accused of taking part in a plot to bomb the offices of a Danish newspaper that had published irreverent cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed and angered Muslims across the world.
He has pleaded not guilty.

Defense attorney Charles Smith didn't deny Rana's connections with David Coleman Headley, who pleaded guilty to terrorism charges related to the Mumbai attacks last year.
The two men were classmates in high school and frequently loaned money to each other over the years, Smith said in his opening statement.

Serving Major Among 4 Pakistani Nationals Behind Mumbai Attacks

A suspected serving Pakistani Major, believed to be working with the ISI, is among four nationals of that country charged by the US with being alleged conspirators behind the 2008 Mumbai terror strikes.

The accused identified as 'Major Iqbal', was named along with Sajid Mir, Mazhar Iqbal and Abu Qahafa in a second superseding indictment filed by the federal prosecutors before a court in Chicago on April 25 last. Besides, the indictment mentioned an unnamed individual as "Lashkar Member D."

Indian investigators had named Major Iqbal along with another Pakistani Army officer Major Sameer Ali as the brain behind the Mumbai terror strikes and on the request of New Delhi, Interpol has issued a Red Corner Notice against them.

The dossier was handed over during the Indo-Pak Foreign Secretary-level talks on February 25, 2010 in New Delhi. The role of 'Major Iqbal' emerged in the interrogation by the FBI of US terror suspect David Headley, arrested in Chicago in October, 2009 in connection with the Mumbai attack.

The four men identified were previously mentioned but not named in the indictments that charged Pakistani-American David Headley and Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana in connection with the Mumbai attacks which killed 166 people, including six Americans.

An individual known as 'Major Iqbal' participated in planning and funding attacks carried out by LeT in Mumbai, federal prosecutors said.

According to the Indian dossier, Maj Iqbal was posted in Lahore from 2007 to 2008 and was handling Headley. He also handled all the surveillance videos sent by Headley.

The US federal prosecutor said that in July 2006, Major Iqbal provided to Headley approximately USD 25,000 to, among other purposes, establish and operate the Mumbai office of First World and pay for living expenses while Headley carried out his assignments for Lashkar.

In September 2006, February 2007, September 2007, April 2008 and July 2008, Headley travelled to Mumbai for extended periods for the purpose of conducting surveillance of possible targets of attacks by LeT, using his association with First World as cover for his travels.

Prior to Headley's departure for each of these trips, Mir and Major Iqbal along with others instructed Headley regarding locations where he was to conduct video surveillance in and around Mumbai, as well as other locations in India.

After each trip, Headley travelled to Pakistan, where he met Sajid Mir and Major Iqbal associated with Lashkar to report on the results of his surveillance, and provided them with photographs and videos from the surveillance, the US federal prosecutors said.

In July, Major Iqbal provided Headley another USD 1,500 to keep open the First World office in Mumbai, but approved closing that office in the future and opening a new business in Delhi, to be used as cover for future activities by him.

And soon after the Mumbai attacks, Major Iqbal advised Headley to avoid contact with him until further notice and to remove any incriminating materials from his home in Pakistan.

Sajid Mir was associated with LeT and supervised others linked with the outfit. He served as a "handler" for Headley, who has confessed to his involvement in Mumbai attacks, and others who were directed to carry out actions relating to planning, preparing for and carrying out the terrorist strikes on behalf of LeT.

Abu Qahafa was an associate with LeT who trained others in combat techniques for use in terrorist attacks, while Mazhar Iqbal and 'Lashkar Member D' were LeT commanders.

According to the indictment, Sajid Mir, Abu Qahafa and Mazhar Iqbal conspired with each other, Headley, 'Lashkar Member D' and others known and unknown to the grand jury, to deliver, place, discharge and detonate explosives and other lethal devices in, into and against places of public use, state and government facilities, public transportation systems and infrastructure facilities in India.

Federal prosecutors alleged that in July and August 2008, Abu Qahafa and others were training a number of young men in Pakistan in various skills and tactics to be used in carrying out terrorist attacks in Mumbai, including combat tactics, room entry, hostage rescue, nautical training and swimming.

During the course of attacks in Mumbai, the attackers were in telephonic contact with defendants Sajid Mir, Abu Qahafa and Mazhar Iqbal, all of whom were then located in Pakistan, the federal prosecutors said. "More specifically, during the course of the attacks, the attackers were advised to, among other actions, kill hostages, set fire and throw grenades. Sajid Mir also sought to arrange the release of a hostage in exchange for the release of a captured attacker," the United States indictment alleged.

American Double Standard Cancel All Contracts Of American Companies

If this is not double standard then what is I do not know, hundreds of people have been killed in India over the past 30 year. Mumbai,Akshardham,Parliament,Serial Blast are just few examples.
Please can anybody tell me what is the difference between the life of an American Citizen and an Indian Citizen, is it cheaper or do Indian citizen come in dime a dozen.
Mr Manmohan Singh has made America and Pakistan as the corner stone of his foreign policy but both of these countries could care less for India, then why is the Indian PM so hell bent upon favoring both these nations over others.
Is there something that we do not see , is it true that our Government is being run by foreign powers?
Is it true than Congress party and its top leaders are amassing huge wealth everywhere at the cost of India?Why is the Indian Government so sheepish about the Swiss money trail? Why inspite of serious home pressure the Government refuses to go after the swiss money? Is there something they don't want us to find?

US charges 4 more Pakistanis in Mumbai attack case

US prosecutors on Monday charged four Pakistanis, including the mysterious "Major Iqbal" of ISI, in connection with the 2008 terrorist carnage in Mumbai, just a day after it emerged that Washington considers Pakistan's spy agency a terrorist outfit.

Also charged in a second superseding indictment filed in the US District Court in Chicago are alleged LeT operative and former Pakistani armyman Sajid Mir, and two other men, Mazhar Iqbal and Abu Qahafa, who allegedly helped train the 26/11 attackers.

The new defendants were charged with aiding and abetting the murder of US citizens and others in India, conspiracy to murder and maim, and providing material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba. In addition, Mir, Qahafa, and Iqbal also were charged with conspiracy to bomb public places. None of the accused is in American custody and it was not immediately clear how the US justice system will proceed with the case.

Washington has an extradition treaty with Pakistan that pre-dates its creation (inherited from British India and invoked occasionally), but it also has other levers with Islamabad that it has used for extraordinary rendition on other occasions.

The fresh indictment, coming at a turbulent time in US-Pakistan relations including the outing of ISI as a terrorist outfit, precedes the scheduled trial later this month of Chicago businessman Tahawwur Rana on charges of helping to plan the Mumbai rampage. Prosecutors say Rana, who owned First World Immigration Services in Chicago, helped another Pakistani expat, Daaod Gilani aka David Coleman Headley, open an office in Mumbai as cover so that he could scout sites for the attack.

Headley has pleaded guilty to the charge in a plea bargain to escape death penalty and it is believed he provided the names of Major Iqbal, Sajid Mir and others added in the superseding indictment. A previous indictment in the Rana case also named former Pakistani special services commando Ilyas Kashmiri and a retired Pakistani military man Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed.

Headley told Indian investigators in June 2010 that his trip to Mumbai in 2006 was sponsored by Maj. Iqbal, who handed him $ 25,000 to open an office and set up a house in Mumbai to be used as a front during his scouting trips. Maj. Iqbal then served as the supervisor of Lashkar's planning, helping to arrange a communications system for the attack and overseeing a model of the Taj Mahal Hotel, so that gunmen could find their way around the hotel.

Pakistan has played smoke and mirrors ever since the nexus between ISI and LeT and their role in the Mumbai carnage was exposed by the fortuitous capture of Ajmal Kasab and subsequently confirmed by David Headley. In the ever-shifting narrative, Pakistani officials have sometimes suggested Major Iqbal is a former ISI officer and may have been part of a rogue operation with LeT leading to the Mumbai attacks. But the state has done little to reel in all the players and prosecute them.

The country's jihadi-sympathetic courts, combined with lack of political will, a constant sense of denial and false grievance, and an extremist mindset have all combined to protect the accused from prosecution for the murder of more than 170 people in Mumbai. The intelligence community believes Pakistan deliberately creates "cut outs" of its service personnel so that it can maintain operational deniability.

But with both the US and Indian justice system moving ahead relentlessly to bring the accused to book, the spotlight is squarely on Pakistan to act, particularly since it has now again come close to being named a state-sponsor of terrorism following the red-flagging of ISI.

On Tuesday, Pakistan reacted angrily to its spy agency being dubbed a terrorist outfit saying it was being defamed internationally. "The ISI is a patriotic organisation which has a huge role in combating terrorism. Those who are trying to bring the ISI into disrepute would never succeed in their design," the country's interior minister Rehman Malik was quoted as saying, a day after WikiLeaks cables showed US investigators considered the ISI a terrorist group.