26/11: Probe finds new evidence of ISI link with LeT’s Mir

A fresh independent probe finds close ties between perpetrators of the massacre and Pak govt.

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Pakistan,a key US ally in the war against terrorism,is a supporter of jihadist terror as seen in the close links between the suspected mastermind of the Mumbai terrorist attacks and the ISI,according to fresh independent probes by a media group into the 26/11 attacks.

“The question,simply put,is whether the larger interests of the United States in maintaining good relations with Pakistan will permit (Sajid) Mir (the jihadi terrorist) and other suspects to get away with one of the most devastating terrorist attacks in recent history,” veteran journalist Sebastian Rotella said in his latest investigative report,published in ProPublica,on the Mumbai terror attacks.

In his latest 26/11 investigative report published as part of the Amazon’s Kindle Singles program,Rotella documents details the close relationship between the perpetrators of the massacre — the militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and the Pakistani government.

Rotella brings in fresh evidence of relationship between Mir,who commanded the Mumbai operations from a control room in Pakistan,and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

The charges have however been strongly denied by Pakistan,which asserts that ISI had no links with the perpetrators of the Mumbai massacre that killed 166 people and wounded more than 300.

Six Americans were among the 26 foreigners killed.

“Mir has close ties to Pakistan’s security forces and may have been an officer in the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate. The ISI has been accused for years of playing a ‘double game’: acting as a front-line US ally in the fight against terror while supporting selected terrorist groups.

“The Mumbai case provides the first detailed inside account of how that game is played,thanks to the confession of Headley,Mir’s American operative,a colorful character in a story of global intrigue,” the report said.

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“US investigators are persuaded that ISI officers recruited and trained Headley in spying techniques,then ran him as an agent in tandem with Lashkar. Pakistani military officers funded and directed Headley’s reconnaissance in India,supplied tactical advice for the Mumbai attack and participated in a follow-up plot against Denmark,according to US and Indian officials,” it said.

The investigation leads to another disturbing revelation — despite isolated voices of concern,for years

the US intelligence community was slow to focus on Lashkar and detect the extent of its determination to strike Western targets.