India called Head(ley)s:
"2008 Mumbai attacks plotter says Pakistan’s spy agency played a role" by Ellen Barry New York Times February 08, 2016
NEW DELHI — A Pakistani-American man who helped to plot the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai told an Indian court Monday that he had met throughout the process with two handlers from Pakistan’s military intelligence agency, an Indian prosecutor said.
India has long sought to depose the man, David C. Headley, in hopes of establishing a direct link between the Pakistani government and the assaults in Mumbai, which left more than 163 people dead.
Headley gave the deposition via teleconference from an undisclosed location in the United States, where he is serving a 35-year sentence for his role in the attacks. The questioning, by Ujjwal Nikam, the Indian public prosecutor, will continue in the coming days.
If you look at the case file the whole thing collapses.
India hopes to present evidence of official involvement in the attacks, in part to generate pressure on the Pakistani government to take action against the conspirators.
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a commander with the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba who is believed to have overseen the Mumbai attacks, has been free on bail in Pakistan since 2014.
The group’s founder, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, lives openly in Lahore, in northern Pakistan, and moves freely throughout the country, impervious to the $10 million reward offered by the United States for information leading to his arrest.
Headley, who identified his contacts at the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate of Pakistan, or ISI, as “Major Ali” and “Major Iqbal,” has linked the terrorist plots to that agency before.
He previously told US prosecutors that Lashkar “operated under the umbrella of the ISI” and that an agency official had offered in 2006 to pay him to carry out reconnaissance trips to India before the attacks. He has made similar statements to Indian investigators who have interviewed him in the United States.
He's still working for the U.S. government, fingering governments if they are getting out of line.
A few revelations emerged from Headley’s questioning Monday, part of a case against a Lashkar operative, Zabiuddin Ansari. One is that the 10 gunmen who paralyzed Mumbai starting on Nov. 26, 2008, had botched two previous attempts on the city, one in September and one in October, in one case swimming back to shore after their boat hit a rock and their arms and ammunition sank.
Headley also said that on the advice of his contact in Lashkar, he had changed his name to a more American-sounding one than his birth name, Daood Gilani, so that he could more easily enter India. He visited India seven times before the attacks, recording hours of video of the city for his handlers in Pakistan.
Headley, 55, the son of a Pakistani poet and diplomat, Syed Saleem Gilani, and a Philadelphia socialite, A. Serrill Headley, carved out a byzantine double game for himself during the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.
Convicted of distributing heroin in the United States, he made a deal with officials at the Drug Enforcement Administration to travel to Pakistan in 2002 to gather information on heroin trafficking.
He was swiftly picked up by Pakistani authorities, who found him in the company of a drug smuggler and decided to work with him.
In 2002, while Headley was still working as a DEA informant, he began training with Lashkar. Three women, a girlfriend and two former wives of his, approached U.S. officials over the course of several years, saying they suspected him of sympathizing with terrorist groups, but no action was taken.
You know why, right?
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What does his Facebook profile say?
Indian, Pakistani officials meet
"Indian leader visits Pakistan in move to ease tense relations" by Salman Masood New York Times December 25, 2015
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — It started with a private phone call by India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan to wish him a happy birthday.
That burst of personal diplomacy Friday led to Modi’s sudden visit with Sharif in the Pakistani city of Lahore, taking both countries — and the world — by surprise. It was the first visit to this country by an Indian premier in more than a decade of tense relations between the nuclear-armed enemy neighbors.
That doesn't happen. For security reasons trips are planned well in advance.
Web altered print.
About four hours later, Mr. Modi landed in the Pakistani city of Lahore for an impromptu visit with Mr. Sharif, giving such little notice that Mr. Sharif’s national security adviser could not make the journey from Islamabad in time.
The first that outsiders — including his own Indian constituency — heard of the visit was when Modi made a show of casually mentioning it on his Twitter account: “Looking forward to meeting PM Nawaz Sharif in Lahore today afternoon, where I will drop by on my way back to Delhi.”
It was the first visit to Pakistan by an Indian premier in almost 12 years. The tense relations between India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed nations, have long worried American policy makers, who fear that proxy wars between the two countries could flare into a real one.
Then why are guys like Headley mucking around in their country?
Mr. Modi is also highlighting India’s role in Afghanistan, including providing military assistance, which risks angering Pakistani leaders.
Modi soon arrived at Sharif’s private residence outside Lahore, meeting the Pakistani leader’s family at an estate decked out with decorations for the wedding of Sharif’s granddaughter. The two leaders met for almost an hour, aides said, speaking pleasantly and vowing to restart talks between the two nations.
Modi had sent mixed signals about Pakistan. He surprised many by inviting Mr. Sharif to his swearing-in ceremony last year, but three months later abruptly halted that tentative engagement by canceling high-level talks over Pakistani diplomats’ meeting with separatist leaders from Kashmir.
The visit was a dramatic gesture to break the ice at a time when relations between Pakistan and India have been almost completely stalled, after months of tension and canceled diplomatic exchanges.
“In a way, he is sending a signal to everyone that there will be no more U-turns,” said Siddharth Varadarajan, a founding editor at The Wire, an Indian news site. “He is putting his personal political brand on this process. He can’t walk away that easily now.”
The reality is that the two countries, after a long history of bitter wars, remain at odds over critical regional issues, including the status of Kashmir and the war in Afghanistan — where the United States, in particular, has long urged India and Pakistan to cooperate better in order to stabilize the country.
It could go either way. Taliban always call tails.
Modi’s day began in Afghanistan, where he helped inaugurate the new Afghan Parliament building, built over eight years with the help of about $90 million from India. He also delivered three Mi-25 attack helicopters and 500 new scholarships for “the children of the martyrs of Afghan security forces,” making a point of acknowledging Pakistan’s concerns about the Indian presence in Afghanistan.
But just a few hours before landing in Lahore, Modi met with the Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, and addressed the Afghan parliament in Kabul, in a visit that included explicit criticism of Pakistan for its role in sheltering the Taliban insurgency.
The first that outsiders — including his own Indian constituency — heard of his plans to visit Mr. Sharif in Pakistan was when Mr. Modi made a show of casually mentioning it on his Twitter account: “Looking forward to meeting PM Nawaz Sharif in Lahore today afternoon, where I will drop by on my way back to Delhi.”
Further, in an unmistakable crossing of a traditional red line for Pakistan, which has opposed greater Indian security involvement in Afghanistan, Modi personally accompanied the delivery of new attack helicopters for the Afghan government, vastly stepping up India’s military aid.
Modi soon arrived at Mr. Sharif’s private residence outside Lahore, meeting the Pakistani leader’s family at an estate decked out with decorations for the wedding of Mr. Sharif’s granddaughter. The two leaders met for almost an hour, aides said, speaking pleasantly and pledging to restart talks between the two nations.
Pakistan pulled out of talks with India in August after differences emerged over plans by Pakistani officials who were visiting the Indian capital, New Delhi, to meet with separatist leaders of the disputed Kashmir region that is claimed by both countries.
Among the factors that may have prompted Mr. Modi to reach out is that Pakistan has a new national security adviser, said Ashok Malik, a New Delhi-based political analyst. The Indian leader, Mr. Malik said, may also have seen an opportunity for “a positive headline.” “He realizes he needs to be seen as engaging, and he is under pressure from the West and the Saudis to engage,” Mr. Malik said. “What came across in the past year was this very combative guy, snarling at his opponents. This has allowed him to appear serious and statesmanlike.”
In an interview last week, T.C.A. Raghavan, the departing Indian high commissioner in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, said that relations between the two countries were at “a tipping point.”
So am I!
In an interview last week, T.C.A. Raghavan, the departing Indian high commissioner in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, said that relations between the two countries were at “a tipping point.”
In that environment, Modi’s visit to Lahore was a continuation of efforts by both leaders to find a personal bridge across a vast diplomatic gap. Modi notably invited Sharif to New Delhi for his inauguration as prime minister last year, a visit that held out hopes of better relations that, within months, was trumped by another round of tensions. The two leaders did briefly meet in Paris on the sidelines of the world climate conference a few weeks ago.
Yeah, something always seems to happen when people start talking peace.
For his part, Mr. Sharif has been an advocate of better ties with India, and he has been eager to enhance trade ties with it. But his desires have been viewed with suspicion and disapproval by the powerful Pakistani military establishment, which remains focused on the resolution of the longtime dispute over Kashmir and accuses India of fostering separatists in Pakistan’s Baluchistan Province.
They have begun to put up barricades.
Sharif has been an advocate of better ties with India and eager to enhance trade. But his desires have been viewed with suspicion and disapproval by the powerful Pakistani military establishment, which remains focused on the resolution of the longtime dispute over Kashmir. Most of the Pakistani political opposition welcomed Modi’s visit, expressing hope that it would bring momentum to improve bilateral relations.
Most of the Pakistani political opposition welcomed Mr. Modi’s visit, expressing hope that it would bring momentum for better relations.
“Today is a good day for Pakistan and India,” said Aitzaz Ahsan, a leader of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party, while talking with Geo, a private television news network.
“Today is a good day for Pakistan and India,” said Aitzaz Ahsan, a leader of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party, while talking with Geo, a private television news network.
Other analysts urged to take a more cautious view. Adil Najam, the dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, said in an interview that there was a danger of overanalyzing the visit.
Other analysts urged a more cautious view. Adil Najam, the dean of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, said in an interview that there was a danger of overanalyzing the visit.
“I think it’s actually a good step. But that is what it is, a step, a very small step. There is a danger of reading too much into that,” Najam said, adding that false expectations eventually “become a recipe for future heartbreak.”
“I think it’s actually a good step. But that is what it is: a step, a very small step. There is a danger of reading too much into that,” Mr. Najam said, adding that false expectations eventually “become a recipe for future heartbreak.”
Where the print part in my paper ended.
Additional web version:
The last time an Indian prime minister visited Pakistan was when Atal Bihari Vajpayee came for an international conference in 2004 and met with President Pervez Musharraf. In 1999, Vajpayee made a historic bilateral visit, riding from New Delhi to Lahore on the inaugural run of a new bus route between the countries.
Modi’s trip was the result of a phone call to Sharif around 11:30 a.m., aides said. Wishing Sharif a happy birthday, Modi then asked whether he could visit Pakistan, and Sharif invited him to his home in Lahore for tea.
On Friday afternoon, Modi’s plane landed at Lahore airport after a morning visit with Afghan officials in Kabul. Just after 4:30 p.m., the prime minister emerged from the plane, clasped his hands in a gesture of greeting and embraced the waiting Sharif.
The two men then boarded a helicopter to take them to Sharif’s private residence on the outskirts of the city. At 5:10 p.m., they reached the palatial home, where Modi warmly greeted Sharif’s relatives.
Sharif, who turned 66 Friday, was in Lahore, his hometown and political power base, to attend the wedding of his granddaughter. Modi spent almost an hour at the Pakistani premier’s residence, which had been brightly lit by festive lights and decorated with wedding accouterments.
Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, the Pakistan foreign secretary, briefing the news media in Lahore in the evening, said that the meeting between the two leaders took place in a very “pleasant atmosphere.”
“It was a goodwill visit,” Chaudhry said, adding: “Both leaders agreed to take forward the bilateral dialogue process in a positive manner.”
He added that Modi had not been aware of the wedding ceremony of Sharif’s granddaughter.
Although there appeared to be widespread support and enthusiasm in Pakistan for Modi’s visit, some observers also expressed apprehension, calling it a characteristic display of the Indian leader’s penchant for playing to the media and an attempt to recast and bolster his international image.
“Modi was being seen as unreasonable and unnecessarily hard-line by the international community and Indian liberals due to the recent actions of his allies in supporting sectarian tensions within India,” said Moeed Pirzada, a talk-show host and political analyst based in Islamabad.
“After doing a $7 billion arms deal with Putin and engaging the Afghan leadership, promising support for the Afghan spy agency, this dash to Pakistan provides a softening of his hard image,” Pirzada said, referring to a recent weapons agreement between India and Russia and to remarks Modi made in Afghanistan.
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Came up tails:
"Indian troops fought militants at a northern air force base for a second day on Sunday, as criticism mounted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise visit to Pakistan last week has yielded few positive results. The attack came a week after Modi met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan during an unannounced stopover in Lahore on his way back from Kabul. Many analysts termed the meeting — the first visit by an Indian prime minister in 12 years — a ‘‘masterstroke’’ aimed at improving the frayed ties between the nations."
Related: Gunmen killed in attack on air base in India
It was Afghan troops that got him.
"A fifth gunman was killed Monday on the third day of a siege at a heavily fortified Indian air base near the border with Pakistan, and at least one attacker remained as troops worked to secure the sprawling compound, a military official said. The attack has dragged on since early Saturday morning as government troops struggle to contain the attackers. At least twice over the weekend it appeared the attack had ended, but fresh gunfire and explosions erupted both times."
All see: Pakistan announces ‘several’ arrests over attack
"Indian soldier found alive after avalanche dies" by New York Times February 12, 2016
NEW DELHI — An Indian infantryman whose unlikely survival in an avalanche touched off celebrations across the country died Thursday at a military hospital in New Delhi.
The soldier, Hanamanthappa Koppad, was buried for five days under 35 feet of ice on the treacherous Siachen Glacier, where Indian and Pakistani troops face one another from camps at elevations approaching 20,000 feet. Nine other soldiers were killed in the same avalanche.
Is that ground really worth defending?
In retrospect, it appears that Koppad’s chances of survival were close to nil. He was in critical condition from the moment he was retrieved from the ice, with multiple organ failure, pneumonia in both lungs and catastrophic brain damage, his doctors said in a news conference.
But while he was still technically alive, military doctors put him on a ventilator and administered the maximum permissible doses of antibiotics and other medication. News channels eagerly trumpeted each new health bulletin.
Indian military officials reserve special praise for soldiers willing to serve a three-month rotation on the glacier under life-threatening weather conditions. Koppad received a bedside visit from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and camera crews trailed after his shaken family members.
A cease-fire with Pakistan has been in place since 2003, but soldiers live in constant danger of frostbite, oxygen deprivation, hidden crevasses and avalanches. Koppad and the other soldiers had been posted at an altitude of 19,600 feet, in a spot where nighttime temperatures drop to around 50 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.
Shortly after Koppad was declared dead, Modi wrote on Twitter: “The soldier in you remains immortal. Proud that martyrs like you served India.”
He lost his life for nothing.
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"Pakistan radicals entrenched; Government makes little effort to curb groups" by Rod Nordland New York Times December 17, 2015
ISLAMABAD — All cellphone coverage was blocked by the government for three hours one recent afternoon in the Pakistani capital, and it did not take long to discover why: Maulana Abdul Aziz, the radical preacher of the Red Mosque, was sermonizing again.
Banned from giving sermons in the mosque, the scene of an army siege on extremists that killed as many as 75 people in 2007, Aziz had announced that he would relay his latest Friday sermon by cellphone, calling aides at the mosque who would rebroadcast it over the mosque’s loudspeakers.
I'm not going to go back and unravel that.
But instead of arresting the jihadi preacher, as many moderate Pakistanis would like, the authorities simply turned off the city’s cell networks last Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the traditional time for Friday prayer, according to senior Pakistani officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the news media.
Aziz’s relative untouchability is a measure of how enduring the power of militant Islamist ideology has remained in Pakistan. Even as the Pakistani military has driven some jihadi groups out of business or into hiding over the past year, other technically banned jihadi or sectarian groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat are still thriving, with little apparent effort by the government or military to curb them.
The ascendance of such groups and of radical mosques and madrassas was well underway during the years that Tashfeen Malik, half of the husband-wife pair of mass shooters in California, returned to Pakistan for her university education in Punjab province.
You may want to take a second look at that.
Many Pakistani officials have been quick to suggest that Malik must have found her extremist beliefs while she was growing up in Saudi Arabia. But the reality in Pakistan is that hard-line Islamist views in line with some of the most conservative Saudi teachings are more mainstream than ever.
Often derided in the Pakistani press as Mullah Burqa — he tried unsuccessfully to escape the Red Mosque siege disguised in a burqa — Aziz, after a period of detention following the 2007 siege, has re-emerged as an apparently untouchable force in Pakistani society. That is true even as some of the armed groups he has openly admired in the past have been marginalized by an effective Pakistani army campaign over the past year.
Like he is being used by someone.
That is the case with the once-powerful Pakistani Taliban, as even a senior official of the insurgents, meeting privately with a Western journalist last week, conceded.
“In Pakistan we can hardly operate anymore,” he said, saying the group has mostly moved to Afghanistan and has forged closer ties with the Afghan Taliban. “In Afghanistan, we have no problem going anywhere.”
He attributed the Pakistani Taliban’s declining fortunes to its bloody attack on a military school in Peshawar last December, in which 145 students were slaughtered. “That was a flawed strategy from our leadership; it was disastrous for us,” he said.
The public outcry was a tremendous lift to the military and its anti-militant operations — which many had earlier complained were halfhearted at best — against the Pakistani Taliban and some of their allies.
My God, it was Pakistan's 9/11!
“They have been defeated militarily,” said Saleem Safi, a prominent TV journalist and commentator here. “But their ideology has not been defeated. Islamic extremism or militancy can emerge in a changed shape in this region anytime.”
Ideas are bulletproof.
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