Pak probe on Mumbai attacks may claim Bangladeshi link

Islamabad, Feb. 5 (ANI): Pakistani investigators probing the Mumbai attacks have alleged a Bangladeshi connection in the terror strikes.

They claim to have evidence of the banned Bangladesh based militant organisation, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami playing a major role in planning the attack and training the terrorists.

Information in this regard will soon be shared with India in the form of a reciprocal dossier made by Pakistan's premier investigation agency, the FIA, the Dawn reports.

Preliminary investigations are likely to indicate that the Mumbai attack was the handiwork of an 'international network of Muslim fundamentalists' present in South Asia and spread all the way to Middle East.

Sources privy to the report say that it underlines that the Mumbai incident is not strictly a Pakistan-India issue. Even Pakistan's High Commissioner to the UK Wajid Shamsul Hassan has indicated that the report indicates that terrorist attack was not planned in Pakistan. It could mean that at least one of the Mumbai attackers was of Bangladesh origin.

A senior western diplomat confirming this said there is a strong possibility that one of the attackers was a Bangladeshi national.

Although, the report highlights the Bangladeshi link in the attack, it also indicates that some of the planning for the strike was done in Dubai. There is also an element of local Indian support.

Referring to copies of the high-level exchanges between FIA and FBI, the paper said the FIA had sought access to some Indian terrorists through the FBI. Fahim Arshad Ansari and Sabbauddin, who were arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police some time between February and March, were quizzed by the FBI.

The investigation also suggests the involvement of the Al Qaeda's international terror network in the attacks. It is notable that HuJI-B, now being suspected of involvement in the attack, was established in 1992 with material assistance from Osama bin Laden's International Islamic Front (IIF). (ANI)