Pakistan- born American, James Headley surfaced in the course of investigation of 26/11 Mumbai carnage. In fact he was nabbed by the American agency on board an internal flight in the US while he was attempting to take out some explosive device from his socks. Further investigation by the US sleuths revealed that he had been responsible for providing very useful infrastructural details to the culprits of the carnage in Pakistan. US authorities have come to the conclusion that Headley had established connection with Hafiz Saeed, the then chief of Lashkar-e-Toiba, (LeT), and the organization which took upon itself the assignment of striking in Mumbai.
LeT was founded by Hafiz Saeed on the prompting and support of some senior officers of ISI in 1990. The reason for formation of the terrorist group was that the ISI decided to have a super terrorist group to take up insurgency in Kashmir and sideline the Liberation Front because it believed supporting the Front could damage Pakistan’s interests. In due course of time, and even today, the LeT says that its essential assignment is that of detaching Kashmir from India. When the US, UK, European Union and Australia declared LeT a terrorist group, Hafiz Saeed changed the nomenclature Al Dawa wal Irshad, the mother organization into Jamaatu’d-Dawa, which he heads today. With that he claimed that he had nothing to do with LeT. He is reported to have said that not a single person affiliated to leT is a member of JD. Hafiz Saeed is reported to have been a colleague of late Osama bin Laden when he was studying in an institution in Saudi Arabia for some time and their association braved all weather till Osama was liquidated in Abbotabad.
Headley worked with full dedication to provide logistical support to the handlers of 26/11 whether affiliated to LeT or to ISI. Hot on the trail of Headley, National Investigation has tumbled on a source that could be highly useful in establishing his contacts with Hafiz Saeed. Headley’s estranged wife named Faiza Outalha lives in Morocco and she could give information about Headley-Hafiz Saeed conspiracy since the NIA wants to provide concrete proof about the role of Saeed in Mumbai attack. Reports are that Outalha had met Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan and she had gone to the US Embassy in Islamabad to register a complaint against Headley saying that he had established contacts with terrorist organizations like LeT and Harakatu’l-Jehad-i-Islami, an Afghanistan-based terrorist organization with close links with Al-Qaeda. Outalha had married Headley in 2007 but was divorced only after a year.
Indian agencies believe that she can be very useful in giving insights into the life and role of Headley particularly in tracing his connections with Hafiz Saeed who has been dodging the Pakistani authorities when asked to explain his role in 26/11. Outalha had visited India twice and stayed in Taj Hotel of Mumbai during her first visit and at Oberoi Trident during the second. She had visited Shimla and Kufri also. In a report Press Trust of India said that knowledgeable circles believe that Outalha told the American Embassy that Headley had built links with a number of women and besides that he also had links with some Bollywood actors, prominent party hoppers of Mumbai and socialites. This information, though only in piecemeal as yet, could be built up into a cohesive one to shed full light on the entire conspiratorial links and activities of the culprits of Mumbai carnage. External Affairs Ministry has directed its mission in Rabat to approach the Moroccan Government for recording the statement of Headley’s estranged wife which could be produced later on as solid proof for extradition of Hafiz Saeed in Mumbai case. It has to be remembered that India has been unrelenting in bringing pressure on Pakistan to bring the perpetrators of Mumbai carnage to justice. Pakistan has begun to feel the heat of India’s demand because it is proving difficult to normalize relations unless major irritants like Hafiz Saeed are booked. Hafiz Saeed has become the epicentre of terrorism in Pakistan as he is much more popular in whole of Pakistan than any other leader of that country. He has a vast establishment of educational institutions and branches of his organization and with enormous funding from supporters within and outside Pakistan he has built a theocratic empire which is a combination of rabid religious indoctrination and muscle power.
Taliban retaliate
Taliban has claimed responsibility for a series of coordinated attacks in Kabul and other Afghan provinces. The Taliban said they and other militant groups were behind a coordinated assault in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Sunday which included attacks on the British and German embassies in the heavily guarded, central diplomatic district. The Taliban also said they were carrying out attacks in several Afghan provinces. A series of explosions followed by sustained gunfire shook the Afghan capital on Sunday in attack by militants on three neighbourhoods frequented by Afghan government officials and their international allies. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the assault in a text message to The Associated Press. He said a group of armed suicide bombers have launched an attack on NATO forces headquarters, parliament and a number of diplomatic residences in Kabul. There were also attacks in two other eastern cities – Jalalabad and Gardez.
These attacks in the capital city expose the vulnerability of the targets of Taliban legions. It shows that they have made it possible for them to enter the heart of the city and not remain banished to the outskirts as is generally claimed by the NATO troops. The series of attacks have taken place simultaneously with behind- the- curtain negotiations going on between the Taliban, Saudis and Americans for some sort of settlement of Afghan crisis. It has to be remembered that the Haqqani group of Taliban has for long been patronized by the ISI and Hekmatyar is closely linked to ISI right from the days when he was staying in Pakistan. The US and affected embassies in Kabul will certainly demand an enquiry into the large scale series of attacks and will try to find out the truth behind these attacks. It will be remembered that Indian Embassy in Kabul was also attacked some time back and India had given proofs of ISI’s links with the assailants.
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