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Last Updated: Jul 4, 2009 - 8:36:55 AM |
An impending threat from the Pakistan-based (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 and Sunnah among
Muslims and non-Muslims.
Source:Ocnus.net 2009
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