Secret Cables Said India More Prominent On Al-Qaida Radar
Vishwa Mohan \TNN
New Delhi: Even as India has so far not become the victim of bio-terrorism, the jihadi groups active in the country have long been looking to tap the vast resource of researchers pursuing biology and bio-tech to launch such strikes as and when they get an opportunity.
Such concerns were expressed by US diplomats, who in the secret embassy cables from New Delhi mentioned how India was a potential bioterror target, WikiLeaks claims. It also states that “India is becoming more prominent on al-Qaida’s radar”.
Some post-26/11 cables also referred to home minister P Chidambaram’s deep concerns about the presence of terrorist sleeper cells, which could be waiting to strike any time. It also referred to how Chidambaram, during his meeting with FBI director Robert Mueller on February 23, had complained that Pakistan had “done damn near nothing” to prosecute the Mumbai attack terror suspects.
Quoting the then additional secretary (international organizations), K C Singh, the US embassy cables on May 24, 2006, said the Indian intelligence was picking up chatter indicating jihadi groups were interested in bio-terrorism and seeking out “like-minded PhDs (researchers) in biology and bio-technology”.
The cable said, “He (Singh) compared the prospects of nuclear terrorism to bio-terrorism (an ideal weapon for terrorism...anthrax could pose a serious problem...it is no long an academic exercise for us) and indicated conceptual support for a joint bio-terrorism exercise.”
The US embassy dispatches, leaked late on Thursday, also referred to a number of observations made by Indian intelligence agencies during their interactions with American counterparts. One of the senior officials of India’s external intelligence agency RAW observed that “al-Qaida franchises, if not al-Qaida proper, are and have been very active in India”. He defined al-Qaida franchises as groups that espouse the same extremist ideology and share some logistical and funding infrastructure even while remaining discreet organizations, such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
The cable, dispatched on February 26, has disclosed almost everything that transpired between Chidambaram and Mueller in their meeting here in the North Block on February 23, just three days before the foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan. It mentioned how Chidambaram, besides pitching for access to American Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley as early as possible also requested access to Headley’s wife Shazia, who, he said, was in Chicago.
Interestingly, the cable quoted Chidambaram as saying that “we (government of India) must be able to say we had access, even if Headley did not speak” showing his desperation amid domestic pressure on why the United States didn’t allow India access to Headley even four months after his arrest. Incidentally, India could get access to Headley in June when he spoke a lot about his role along with Lashkar jihadis, the ISI’s and the army’s in 26/11. The Indian investigators have, however, so far not gained access to Shazia.
About Shazia, the cable quoted Chidambaram as saying, “The government of India investigators can question her on the meaning of her alleged messages to Headley that she ‘saw your graduation’”. According to the cable, Chidambaram also confided that he had a feeling in his bones that “Headley was not acting alone in India” and expressed frustration over what he characterized as Headley’s false claim that he had no accomplices.
‘Osama pledged $20m for K-ultras’
London: Al-Qaida chief Osama Bin Laden had promised jihadis fighting in Kashmir that they will not “run short of funds” and was willing to “divert” $20 million to support Kashmir-oriented militancy, Indian officials were quoted as telling US diplomats by WikiLeaks.
In a cable dated May 24, 2006, MEA additional secretary K C Singh was said to have pointed out to Osama deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri’s April 29 video message praising “popular jihadi movements against Indians in Kashmir” and calling India “the best candidate for carrying out the Zionist-Crusader scheme to humiliate, weaken, and dismember Pakistan”.
----http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEwLzEyLzE4I0FyMDEyMDA=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
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