US expert says Mumbai attackers could be linked to 'global jihad'

Washington, Dec.2 : A leading expert of terrorism is of the view that the terrorists' who spread mayhem in Mumbai last week, were in some ways connected to a global jihad.

The Daily Times quotes Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution as saying that many different groups use terror as a tool in India, including separatist movements in the northeast, Naxalites in the centre and east of the country, extremists in the Muslim minority and extremists in the Hindu majority.

But the most dangerous terror menace comes from Kashmiri groups based in Pakistan with long and intimate connections to Al Qaeda and Bin Laden, he points out.

The ISI, he adds, was an enthusiastic supporter of the Kashmiri insurgency and wanted to use asymmetric warfare, or terrorism, to undermine Indian control of Kashmir.

While warning against drawing hasty conclusions about the Mumbai attacks, Riedel writes, "There is considerable confusion and contradiction in the press accounts of what transpired. The good news is that Pakistan has offered to assist in the investigation, which could help prevent the very crisis between India and Pakistan that the plot's masterminds may have wanted."

ANI