Islamabad finds links between the gunmen who carried out the Mumbai attacks and Lashkar-eTaiba (LeT) -- an outlawed Pakistani militant group. Zarar Shah, a top LeT commander, captured in a raid early this month in Pakistani-administrated Kashmir, has confessed to the group's involvement in November 26 Mumbai terror attacks, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
Pakistani security officials said Shah made the confession while under interrogation.
Shah told interrogators that he was one of the main planners of the assault and that he had spoken to the attackers during the rampage to give them advice and keep them focused.
The admission, the officials said, was backed up by intercepts of a phone call between Shah and one of the attackers at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, the site of a 60-hour confrontation with Indian security forces.
The report came as the US was mounting pressure on Islamabad to extradite the alleged mastermind behind the Mumbai attacks, Zaki Al Rahman Lakhvi, to India.
“The Americans are believed to have given Pakistan a taped conversation Lakhvi allegedly had with the gunmen involved in the attacks,” the Dawn newspaper said, quoting diplomatic sources.
Lakhvi and Shah were picked up during a crackdown, which followed a UN ban on the Jamat-ud Daawa - a front group for the LeT - in the aftermath of attacks on Indian financial hub.
India's angry accusation of a Pakistani link to the assault on Mumbai has revived historic hostilities between the nuclear-armed rivals and had raised fears of another conflict. Pakistan has condemned the Mumbai attacks and has denied any state role, blaming "non-state actors" for the incident.
However, tension between the two neighboring states was resolved to some extent after Indian and Pakistani leaders held dialogue via telephone, following regional initiatives by countries such as China and Iran.
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Topic: 'LeT chief admits Mumbai involvement' (Read 566 times)