Haaretz: Is Al-Qaida behind the Mumbai terror attacks?

       A previously little-known group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the series of attacks that rocked Mumbai over the last two days. The organization is named for Hyderabad, a mainly Muslim southern Indian city. It previously claimed responsibility for last May's series of explosions in Jaipur, which killed 70 people. Indian security authorities, however, believe the group is actually a front for the Muslim terrorist organization Lashkar a-Tayeb ("army of believers"), established in 1989 by Pakistani intelligence. This assessment is based partly on the interrogation of nine members who were arrested. They revealed that 60 to 70 terrorists, some of whom came to Mumbai by boat, carried out the current attacks. Weapons and a stash of grenades were found in one of the boats after its passengers came ashore. Pakistani intelligence founded, aided and cultivated this and other militant organizations as part of its battle against India in the contested region of Kashmir. It was only in 2003, after 9/11 and under heavy pressure from India and the United States, that the organization and similar ones were outlawed in Pakistan. Experts believe the main goal of Lashkar a-Tayeb is to destabilize India by damaging its economy and its fragile ethnic mix while fomenting dissent among India's large Muslim minority. The organization, which is on the list of outlawed terror organization in many countries, seeks to end what it considers India's occupation of Kashmir. Its ideological platform combines anti-Western ideas (which explains its choice of hotels popular with Westerners in its list of targets) with those of global jihad and of hatred toward India. In the past, the group had strong links to Osama Bin Laden, and its members trained in Al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan. Abu Zubaydah, considered one of the most senior Al-Qaida officials being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, was captured in March 2002 in a joint operation by United States and Pakistani intelligence forces at a Lashkar a-Tayeb safe house. (15,05)