RENEE

Posted at 7:32 p.m. ET:

Regular readers of Urgent Agenda know that Renee Nielsen, president of Republicans Abroad in India, has been sending us superb reports on the situation in Mumbai, site of the recent terrorist attacks.  Here is Renee's latest:

-  The papers are still looking for security failures from the Mumbai attacks.  The Times of India reports:

NEW DELHI: Alertness by an Indian patrol vessel on the night of November 26 could have prevented the Mumbai carnage.  Lakshar terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasav has told investigators that just before the 10 jihadis abandoned the trawler "Kuber" to take inflatable boats to dock at Mumbai, an Indian vessel--either from the Navy or the Coast Guard and seemingly on routine patrol with a sailor scanning it through binoculars.  The scrutiny was close enough to cause the terrorists to take positions and alert their Lashkar bosses. The Lashkar commanders ordered the gang to stay still and avoid a confrontation with the patrol. Soon, the vessel, perhaps taken in by the Indian ownership of Kuber, moved on. But in their haste to move out, the panicky jihadis forgot to destroy their satphone and GPS device.

 This was an instruction that had been sternly drilled into the group by the Lashkar trainers in the camps where they were trained, in the safehouse at Azizabad near Karachi where they had been put up before being sent and, one last time, on board Al Hussaini, the Lashkar ship which they sailed on before capturing Kuber.

The satellite phone, with five logged calls to Lashkar brass, is a trove of information that can blast apart Pakistan's denial that the terrorists were launched from its territory and by a group which is an extension of its espionage agency, the ISI. India's agencies have been familiar with one of these logged numbers which has regularly popped up in the course of investigation into terrorist attacks. It belongs to Abu Al Qama, a known Lashkar mastermind of jihadi violence.

My personal opinion is that the media and especially officials here are talking way too much about these satellite phones and the calls made to/from, as this is an ongoing investigation.  The officials aren't even being quoted as anonymous sources.  It's just straight, legitimate, reporting and a lot of this information is coming from interrogators based on confessions of the surviving terrorist.        

-  Another development is in the basic legal case against the surviving terrorist, Ajmal Qasab, developed by the Indian authorities.  A public defender, Dinesh Mota, who was originally assigned as defense counsel, says his life "turned into a nightmare" when he was told he would have to represent Qasab. He said "I'm a Mumbaiker and all the victims are like my family."  The Mumbai Mirror reported that Mota told the Esplanade court that he didn't want to defend Qasab on "moral grounds," and then waited to see if the court would grant his request for withdrawal, which it did.  No new attorney has been assigned the case as of now.  I would expect lots of problems getting someone to represent this guy.

-  The DNA has reported that Qasab will undergo a narco-analysis test "to corroborate all that he has confessed to so far and to get more information about the conspiracy, police said on Friday."

-  Austria gets in on the terror action.  DNA also reports:

The grenades seized from Mohammad Ajmal Amir, the lone arrested terrorist, were manufactured in Austria.

The Mumbai police have written to the Austrian company asking for the purchase details of the grenades. "It has been learnt that the company has stopped manufacturing the grenades. We want to know which agency has the manufacturing and distributing rights," Rakesh Maria, joint commissioner of police and the crime branch chief, said. The grenades seized from Amir were of the same make as those used in the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai, he said.

The police have seized several grenades with a marking, Arges, in bold letters, followed by 'Spl HG 64' and the serial number 7-93-003, a police source said. The Arges brand name belongs to Rheinmetall Waffe Munition, a company in Austria. And Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) manufactured the grenades under licence for use by the Pakistan Army.

That should be interesting.

Indeed.  Another good report from Renee Nielsen, who provides us with details not available in the mainstream media.

December 12, 2008.