Mumbai hostage crisis heads for dramatic finish

Mumbai, Nov 28 (IANS) Thirty-three hours after it began, a hostage crisis seemed headed for its final denouement here as Indian special forces Friday morning dramatically slithered down ropes from two military helicopters to the roof of a five-storey building to flush out terrorists holed up there.

On the ground, some 100 other commandos massed in the lane leading to the Nariman House - known among Israelis as Chabad House - one of the three buildings seized by the terrorists Wednesday night, and on adjacent rooftops provided covering fire in what seemed to the final decisive stage of the operation.

The first of the choppers arrived overhead at around 7.30 a.m. and some six commandos, their ankles gripping the rope, slithered down to the roof of Nariman House with one hand, balancing their AK-56 assault rifles in the other.

A second helicopter arrived soon thereafter with another six commandos.

The force initially assembled on the roof of Nariman House before storming the building, where it is believed some six to eight hostages are still being held.

With the helicopters whirring protectively overhead, gunfire and explosions were heard as the commandos moved down the building.

Nariman House is a Jewish religious and residential complex and was one of three buildings the terrorists seized Wednesday night.

Other commandos also fanned through the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel and the Oberoi-Trident hotel to sanitise them room by room and floor by floor before sounding the all-clear, which officials said, could still be a while away.

At least 125 people have been killed and 327 injured in India's longest hostage crisis that has been likened to the country's 9/11.

Gunshots erupted from the Nariman House around 7 a.m. as the commandos on the ground were taking position. A second round of firing was heard about 15 minutes later.

As the operation progressed, the authorities pushed back TV news channel crews from the scene, banning them from beaming live pictures from the scene. The position, however, changed as an Indian Air Force Mi-17 helicopter arrived on the scene with the commandos.

Earlier, three explosions were heard at the Nariman House. Two explosions followed in quick succession around 2.30 a.m. and a third was heard just before 5 a.m., even as snipers were moving in on the ground.

Eyewitnesses at the site said it was surprising that there was no retaliatory fire from the terrorists as the hostages were being brought out but the explosions occurred much later.

The Bombay Stock Exchange was likely to reopen Friday after being closed Thursday as the authorities struggled to cope with India's longest hostage drama that has been likened to this country's 9/11.

Malls, cinema halls and schools will, however, remain shut for the second day Friday.

Mumbai attacks may sharpen Obama's Kashmir focus

Chicago, Nov 28 (IANS) The multiple terror attacks on Mumbai could push the incoming Barack Obama administration to sharpen its focus on the Kashmir issue.

The attacks are being viewed by some in the transition team here as President-elect Obama's first major national security challenge that could draw him into the Kashmir dispute sooner than he might like.

Although there is no direct link established between the terrorists operating in Kashmir with those who carried out the Mumbai attacks, a case may be made that eventually all jehadi groups are bound by a common Islamist philosophy.

To that extent the Deccan Mujahedeen, a likely offshoot of the more organized Indian Mujahedeen, may well share the broader vision of those operating in Kashmir.

Part of the reason why the Mumbai attacks could more sharply define the new Kashmir approach is because in the final analysis Kashmir (including the part under Pakistani control) is seen as a fount of the rising Islamist terror in India. Of course, factors such as the 2002 mass killings of Muslims in Gujarat do fuel some of the sense of extreme disenchantment within the Muslim community. However, the larger connection between the disparate groups will always remain a feeling of pan-Islamism.

Perhaps the clearest indication of a more pro-active Kashmir approach under Obama has come from Bruce Reidel, a former CIA officer and adviser to three US presidents on South Asia and the Middle East who has been appointed by the new president as his Pakistan adviser.

In an interview with the influential think tank Council on Foreign Relations Reidel was quoted as saying as recently as September: "There's another place where I feel creative American diplomacy could be helpful. We ought to try to encourage a long-term settlement between India and Pakistan of the Kashmir dispute, based again on the principle that the existing Line of Control ought to become an international border with some special status reserved for Kashmiris."

"We can't expect Pakistan to behave like a normal state, unless it has normal borders. And we can't expect Pakistan to behave the way we would like it to while it's obsessed and fixated on its neighbor and the problem in Kashmir. The problem in Kashmir has been in the doldrums for the past several years. It is now starting to boil really quickly, and when Kashmir boils, the result is Indian-Pakistani tensions that can produce war. We've seen that over and over again," he said.

With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pointing at external links of the Mumbai attackers, it is not lost on experts in the US that he could be talking of groups based in Pakistan. If that is indeed the case the brazen Mumbai attacks could yet work up new tensions with Pakistan. Since Obama is committed to making Afghanistan and Pakistan his administration's foreign policy as well national security priority, it is only logical that he would have to pay particular attention to Kashmir.

While the chatter over Obama proposing to appoint a special envoy on Kashmir has died down in recent weeks, it is clear that the Mumbai attacks would bring back a whole lot of options on the table. At the very least they would force Obama and his South Asia advisers to reassess the situation on the ground.

Those who know the issue of terror in India understand that the mushrooming jehadi outfits use the justification of the community having been wronged in India as much as it having been wronged globally.

Such outfits no longer make any distinction between what they consider wrongs being done to Indian Muslims and those being done to Muslims worldwide. This fusion of global and domestic grievance among the jehadi groups, perceived or real, could make it hard for the Obama administration to tailor their Kashmir policy.

Nobody knows who Deccan Mujahedeen are or what their objectives are or whether they feel any affinity towards the Kashmiri separatists. But it may be safe to assume that all these groups morph into each other when it comes to what they have framed in their minds as Islam versus the world conflict. It is in this nebulousness that the Obama administration will have to pitch its Kashmir approach in the framework of its national security policy on South Asia, in the light of threat perceptions emanating from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Eight, including Jewish centre rabbi, stuck in Nariman House

Mumbai, Nov 28 (IANS) Nariman House is known among Israelis as Chabad House, the Jewish centre at the centre of the terrorist drama unfolding in Mumbai. It is a popular stop for Israeli tourists, especially backpackers, who visit this country in thousands every year after finishing their national army service or after their university studies.

Among those captured are the Rabbi of the centre, Gavriel Holtzberg, his wife Rivka and six others. The couple's two-year-old son and a staff member at the center managed to escape the building.

Sandra Samuel, 44, the cook who pulled the boy out the building, said she saw Rabbi Holzberg, his wife Rivka and two other unidentified guests lying on the floor, apparently "unconscious."

Rivka Holtzberg's family live in the Israeli city of Afula. Her father, Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg, said: "I got a call telling us to listen to news of terrorists attacking in Mumbai. We tried to get in touch but all the systems went down and later we heard that the terrorists stormed the building and they were being held hostage."

The Holtzbergs offer visitors a number of different programmes and also provide kosher food. About 4,000 full-time emissary families direct more than 3,300 Chabad institutions around the world.

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, founder and president of The Israel Project, said: "Just like the Passover Massacre in Netanya, Israel, this attack was by Muslim extremists who are targeting those who love freedom, tolerance and peace. While the victims were not sitting at their tables eating turkey, the timing of the attack was clearly done to capture news headlines as Americans celebrate one of their most important holidays.

"Indeed, Thanksgiving is a celebration of freedom and cooperation - the opposite of what these Muslim extremist terrorists want for the world. The world must work together to stop such threats no matter from where they stem."

A spokesman for the Chabad movement in New York, Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin, said "It seems that the terrorists commandeered a police vehicle which allowed them easy access to the area of Chabad House and threw a grenade at a gas pump nearby."

Silence at Taj, Oberoi; terror toll 125

Mumbai, Nov 28 (IANS) As dawn broke in India's commercial capital Friday, silence prevailed at two luxury hotels as commandos moved in to flush out gunmen who had unleashed the most audacious terror attack the country has witnessed, with at least 125 people already dead and 327 injured.

Three explosions were, however, heard at the Nariman House, the third building the attackers had stormed Wednesday night and from where the security forces shepherded out seven more hostages early Friday.

Two explosions followed in quick succession around 2.30 a.m. and a third was heard just before 5 a.m., even as snipers were taking position around the building.

Eyewitnesses at the site said it was surprising that there was no retaliatory fire from the terrorists as the hostages were being brought out but the explosions occurred much later.

The Bombay Stock Exchange was likely to reopen Friday after being closed Thursday as the authorities struggled to cope with India's longest hostage drama that has been likened to this country's 9/11.

Malls, cinema halls and schools will, however, remain shut for the second day Friday.

Sporadic bursts of gunfire and explosions continued till past midnight from the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel and the nearby hotel Oberoi Trident as commandos from the National Security Guard (NSG) threw a ring around the two places before moving in to sanitise the two buildings room by room and floor by floor.

The gunfire died down as the commandos moved into the two hotels.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flew into Mumbai Thursday night and drove straight from the airport to the JJ Hospital to meet some of the injured even as a huge fire raged at the landmark Taj hotel facing the seafront Gateway of India monument and was doused with some difficulty.

By Thursday evening, NSG director general J.K. Dutt announced that only two terrorists remained to be captured or killed in the Oberoi complex while a single terrorist, injured but still free, was holed up in the Taj. He also said his men were "in total control of the situation" at Nariman Bhavan.

By Thursday evening, all hostages had been freed from the iconic Taj hotel, one of the first of 10 targets of the terrorists.

As the evening progressed, several hostages were seen walking out of the Trident hotel and the Nariman House in south Mumbai where the terrorists, believed to be from Pakistan, had fanned out after landing in darkness at a fishing village Wednesday night by boat armed with arms and ammunition.

In no time, the gunmen began firing from automatic rifles and hurling grenades, killing people at will. By Thursday evening, the death toll had risen to 125, including about half a dozen foreigners.

In New Delhi, before flying to Mumbai, a grim looking Manmohan Singh addressed the nation: "It is evident that the group which carried out these attacks, based outside the country, had come with a single-minded determination to create havoc in the commercial capital of the country.

"We will take up strongly with our neighbours that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us will not be tolerated and that there would be a cost if suitable measures are not taken by them."

Assisting the NSG were the army and the navy as well as the riot police.

As they prepared for the final onslaught, three fires broke out at the Taj extensively damaging the 105-year-old heritage building. At the Oberoi, people were seen waving desperately from the windows.

"It's a motivated, well planned terrorist attack," added Major General R.K. Hooda of the Indian Army.

TV grabs showed that some of the terrorists were young, trendily dressed in jeans and T-shirts and carrying rucksacks.

One of them, calling himself Shahadullah, telephoned India TV channel to say he was from the Indian city of Hyderabad and belonged to a previously unheard of group called the Deccan Mujahideen.

Speaking in Hindustani with an accent, the man said the attack had been carried out to avenge the 1992 destruction of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya and the "repression" of Muslims in India. He said the hostages would be freed only in exchange for the "mujahideen" in Indian prisons.

But an army officer supervising the operations said the terrorists were conversing in Punjabi. He said one arrested terrorist was from Faridkot in Pakistan.

Mumbai remained tense through the day, with few people venturing out of their homes. Most suburban trains -- the city's lifeline -- ran virtually empty. Schools, colleges and businesses were shut. Wednesday's attack was the third major terrorist strike in Mumbai since March 1993.

A stunned international community condemned the wanton killings. US president-elect Barack Obama asked Washington to work with India to root out and destroy terrorist networks worldwide. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: "Such violence is totally unacceptable." The European Union also denounced the terrorists.

The US, Britain, Canada, Australia and France were quick to warn their citizens to avoid travel to Mumbai. The US embassy in New Delhi urged its nationals to defer travel to Mumbai for 48 to 72 hours.

In Chandigarh, Pakistan Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi denounced the killings as "barbaric". He said Islamabad had faced similar situations and it would be immature to link the attack to his country.

Despite the crisis and his promise not to take up divisive issues now, Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani was critical: "The government itself is terming it intelligence failure, so I should not say anything."

The survivor stories were plenty.

Indian Communist MP N.N. Krishnadas said after being rescued by commandos Thursday: "I was having dinner with some colleagues when two masked militants barged into the restaurant. They fired indiscriminately. I saw three people being shot. The terrorists left the room soon after."

Indian commandos airdropped over terrorist-held building

Mumbai, Nov 28 (IANS) A 33-hour hostage crisis seemed headed for its final denouement here Friday as Indian special forces commandos Friday morning dramatically slithered down ropes from a military helicopter to the roof of a five-storey building to flush out terrorists holed up there.

On the ground, some 100 National Security Guard (NSG) commandos massed in the lane leading to the Nariman House, one of the three buildings seized by the terrorists Wednesday night in what seemed to the final decisive stage of the operation.

The commandos also fanned through the aj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel and the Oberoi-Trident hotel to sanitise them room by room and floor by floor before sounding the all-clear, which officials said, could still be a while away.

Gunshots erupted from the Nariman House around 7 a.m. as the commandos were taking position. A second round of firing was heard about 15 minutes later.

As the operation progressed, the authorities pushed back TV news channel crews from the scene, banning them from beaming live pictures from the scene. The position, however, changed as an Indian Air Force Mi-17 helicopter arrived on the scene with the commandos.

Hollywood actor among two Canadians injured in Mumbai

Toronto, Nov 28 (IANS) Two Canadians, including actor Michael Rudder, are among those injured in the Mumbai terror attack, a group conducting a meditation camp in India's commercial capital that the duo were attending, said.

Six Canadians are said to be still being held hostage or missing in the worst terror attack on India.

According to reports here, the two injured Canadians were part of a meditation group that was staying at the Oberoi-Trident hotel.

The Virginia-based mediation group Synchronicity Foundation, which organised the mediation tour of India, said in a statement: "In response to the many inquiries about our program currently being held in India, 25 participants (comprising 16 Americans, four Canadians and five Australians) were participating in a spiritual program being held at the Oberoi hotel in Mumbai.

"We have confirmed that two of our American and two Canadian participants received gunshot wounds. One remains in intensive care with three bullet wounds but is conscious and believed to be out of danger.

"Two others are recovering after surgery and the fourth has been released having been treated for a flesh wound," the statement said, adding two members (both Americans) of the party are currently unaccounted for.

Several eyewitness accounts reported the two being shot in the restaurant and feared to be dead, it said.

"While many of the other participants are still being held in their rooms by authorities at the hotel, we believe them to be in parts of the hotel that have been secured by the police/military", the statement said.

Later, a representative of Synchronicity told the Canadian Press that Montreal-based actor Michael Rudder was shot when terrorists stormed one of the hotels in Mumbai.

The representative said Rudder underwent surgery in an intensive care unit after three gunshot wounds.

Rudder, who has acted alongside Johnny Depp and Eddie Murphy in many Hollywood movies and was nominated for a Genie award for best-supporting actor in 1989 for the film Buying Time, is said to be now recovering.

Local media reports identified Helen Connolly, who teaches yoga at the Ah Yogahh studio foundation in Markham on the outskirts of Toronto, as the other Canadian who suffered bullet injuries in the terror attack.

She is staying with a local host family after being released from the hospital, and "is doing exceptionally well," the Toronto Star quoted foundation vice president Bobbie Garvey as saying from Mumbai.

When this correspondent called Connolly's phone number, her voicemail message said: "I am away at the moment and will return December 4, so please leave a message or try calling after that date."

Cypriot businessman killed in Mumbai attacks

Nicosia (Cyprus), Nov 28 (Xinhua) A Cypriot businessman was killed in the terror attacks in India's commercial capital Mumbai, the country's foreign ministry has said.

Andreas Liveras, 73, who holds a dual Cyprus-British citizenship, had immigrated to Britain in 1963. He had set up a yacht business in Monaco.

His brother Theophanis told the Cyprus media that Liveras was in Mumbai to attend a cruise-liners' exhibition. The terrorists had abducted him from a dining restaurant in a hotel before he was shot dead.

The Cypriot government has expressed its support to the Indian government in the fight against terrorism, the statement said Thursday.

Two blasts heard at Mumbai's Nariman House - 125 dead

Two blasts were heard early Friday at the Nariman House in south Mumbai, even as the security forces prepared to storm the building, one of the three that terrorists had targeted in their audacious attacks Wednesday night.

It wasn't immediately clear what had caused the blasts as the media had been barred from the area, eyewitnesses said.

Earlier, it was reported that at least seven hostages had been brought out of the building but this could not be immediately confirmed.

Nariman House, also known as Chabad House, lies some 100 metres away as the crow flies from the Oberoi-Trident Hotel that the terrorists have stormed, apart from the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel.

National Security Guard commandos are in the process of conducting clean-up operations in the two hotels but it would be quite a while before the all-clear is sounded, officials at the spot said

Chabad House is a popular stop that provides different services to visiting Israeli tourists, including kosher food.

Commandos to flush out terrorists in Mumbai, 125 dead

Mumbai, Nov 27 (IANS) More than 24 hours after terrorists sneaked into Mumbai from the sea to unleash India's most audacious terror attack, commandos were Thursday night set to flush out gunmen holding hostages in a luxury hotel, with at least 125 people already dead and 327 injured.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flew into India's commercial capital at night and drove straight from the airport to the JJ Hospital to meet some of the injured even as a huge fire raged in the landmark Taj hotel facing the seafront Gateway of India monument.

Occasional bursts of gunfire and explosions were heard from the Taj and the nearby hotel Oberoi Trident as commandos from the National Security Guard (NSG) threw a ring around the two places and the Nariman Bhavan to isolate a small number of gunmen holding hostages, foreigners included.

By evening, NSG director general J.K. Dutt announced that only two terrorists remained to be captured or killed in the Oberoi complex while a single terrorist, injured but still free, was holed up in the Taj. He also said his men were "in total control of the situation" at Nariman Bhavan.

By evening all hostages had been freed from the iconic Taj hotel, one of the first of 10 targets of the terrorists.

As the evening progressed, several hostages were seen walking out of the Trident hotel and the Nariman House in south Mumbai where the terrorists, believed to be from Pakistan, had fanned out after landing in darkness at a fishing village Wednesday night by boat armed with arms and ammunition.

In no time, the gunmen began firing from automatic rifles and hurling grenades, killing people at will. By Thursday evening, the death toll had risen to 125, including about half a dozen foreigners.

In New Delhi, before flying to Mumbai, a grim looking Manmohan Singh addressed the nation: "It is evident that the group which carried out these attacks, based outside the country, had come with a single-minded determination to create havoc in the commercial capital of the country.

"We will take up strongly with our neighbours that the use of their territory for launching attacks on us will not be tolerated and that there would be a cost if suitable measures are not taken by them."

Assisting the NSG were the army and the navy as well as the riot police.
As they prepared for the final onslaught, three fires broke out at the Taj extensively damaging the 105-year-old heritage building. At the Oberoi, people were seen waving desperately from the windows.

"It's a motivated, well planned terrorist attack," added Major General R.K. Hooda of the Indian Army.

TV grabs showed that some of the terrorists were young, trendily dressed in jeans and T shirts and carrying rucksacks.

One of them, calling himself Shahadullah, telephoned India TV channel to say he was from the Indian city of Hyderabad and belonged to a previously unheard of group called the Deccan Mujahideen.

Speaking in Hindustani with an accent, the man said the attack had been carried out to avenge the 1992 destruction of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya and the "repression" of Muslims in India. He said the hostages would be freed only in exchange for the "mujahideen" in Indian prisons.

But an army officer supervising the operations said the terrorists were conversing in Punjabi. He said one arrested terrorist was from Faridkot in Pakistan.

Mumbai remained tense through the day, with few people venturing out of their homes. Most suburban trains -- the city's lifeline -- ran virtually empty. Schools, colleges and businesses were shut. Wednesday's attack was the third major terrorist strike in Mumbai since March 1993.

A stunned international community condemned the wanton killings. US president-elect Barack Obama asked Washington to work with India to root out and destroy terrorist networks worldwide. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: "Such violence is totally unacceptable." The European Union also denounced the terrorists.

The US, Britain, Canada, Australia and France were quick to warn their citizens to avoid travel to Mumbai. The US embassy in New Delhi urged its nationals to defer travel to Mumbai for 48 to 72 hours.

In Chandigarh, Pakistan Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi denounced the killings as "barbaric". He said Islamabad had faced similar situations and it would be immature to link the attack to his country.

Despite the crisis and his promise not to take up divisive issues now, Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani was critical: "The government itself is terming it intelligence failure, so I should not say anything."

The survivor stories were plenty.

Indian Communist MP N.N. Krishnadas said after being rescued by commandos Thursday: "I was having dinner with some colleagues when two masked militants barged into the restaurant. They fired indiscriminately. I saw three people being shot. The terrorists left the room soon after."

South African Airways officials trapped in Oberoi

Pretoria, Nov 28 (IANS) Seven South Africans are still trapped in the Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai as the standoff continued following the terrorist attacks in India's commercial capital that left over 125 people dead, the foreign affairs department said here late Thursday.

"Seven South African Airways (SAA) crew are still trapped in the Oberoi Hotel. Seven others, including the three pilots are safe. Two South African Revenue Services officials are also safe," Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa was quoted as saying by the news agency SAPA.

He said the government was in contact with those still inside the hotel.

SAA earlier sent an aircraft to Mumbai to pick up its crew and other South Africans after being advised that Mumbai's airport remained secure and safe. SAA chief executive Khaya Ngqula said he was greatly relieved that all crew members in Mumbai had been located.

"We are now working to ensure that we bring them, and our passengers, back to South Africa safely," Ngqula added.

Meanwhile President Kgalema Motlanthe joined world leaders in extending South Africa's heartfelt condolences to the government and people of India, in particular to those families who lost loved ones.

The South African Consulate General in Mumbai received a number of calls from concerned families in South Africa as well as South African companies with employees in Mumbai including pilots and crew members from the South African Airways, Mamoepa said in a statement.

South African Consul General in Mumbai Busi Kuzwayo had also asked all South African companies based in Mumbai to inform him if any of their employees were in the vicinity of the hotels, hospital and restaurant that came under attack. The consul general is still awaiting feedback from these companies.

South Africans in Mumbai are being encouraged to contact the consulate general to report their presence and well-being.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) Thursday also expressed its concern at Wednesday night's terrorist attacks, but has not yet taken a stand on whether South African teams and players due to leave for Mumbai at the weekend for the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League would still do so.

On Thursday, it was announced in Mumbai that the League, scheduled to begin Dec 3, had been postponed but no fresh dates were immediately announced.

Two of the South African franchises, the Nashua Titans and the Nashua Dolphins, were due to leave for India at the weekend to play in the League competition. National captain Graeme Smith and fast bowler Makhaya Ntini are also contracted to play for the Rajasthan Royals and the Chennai Super Kings respectively. Some of the matches were scheduled to be held in Mumbai.

"The safety of our players is of paramount concern to us at all times," said CSA CEO Gerald Majola. "We will have to wait for guidance from the Department of Foreign Affairs as well as the people on the ground in India before we take any decisions.

"At the same time I would like to express sympathy to those who have been injured or lost loved ones in this tragic incident."

Officials carry the body of Assistant Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte during his funeral procession in Pune 

Sachin, son of Balasaheb Bhosale cries at his funeral in Mumbai, India, Nov. 27, 2008. Babasaheb Bhosale was a police official who died in the anti-terror operation at a railway station.  

PM, Sonia, Advani visit Mumbai injured

Mumbai, Nov 28 (IANS) Prime Minister Mammohan Singh, Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani and Congress president Sonia Gandhi flew into the city Thursday evening to meet those injured in the terror strikes inn this western metropolis.

The prime minister, along with Gandhi, visited the J.J. Hospital in south-central Mumbai to inquire about the condition of over 50 injured police personnel and foreign tourists who are admitted there.

The prime minister's convoy travelled along the D.N. Road, a major stretch of it leading from Colaba to Crawford Market near the Mumbai Police headquarters. The road was cordoned off by the army after Wednesday night's gun battle at the Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus (VT), apprehending further attacks by the terrorists.

The VVIP visits came at a tension-filled time when the security forces were already stretched, engaged in fierce gunbattles with terrorists hiding in two luxury hotels and a multi-storey building.

Advani visited the iconic Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel soon after landing in the city. His visit came when the National Security Guards were battling it out inside the hotel for a final assault on the terrorists holed up inside the hotel and to bring about 39 guests held hostage out safely.

The security forces have also laid seige at the Oberoi Trident Hotel and the Nariman Bhavan, where terrorists have held many people, including some Israeli nationals, hostage.

"The visit by politicians has put extra pressure on police personnel as they have been out on the street for the last nearly 24 hours since Wednesday night, providing support to the NSG, army and the Rapid Action Force in the operations at three key points in the city," a retired police official said.

According to him, as many as 2,000 police personnel are required to give security cover to the prime minister alone, and many of them were deployed at strategic points along the route of his visit from the airport.

Some were upset with the speech by Advani, who while addressing the media at the Taj, gave a political speech by blaming the central and state governments for intelligence failure.

Talking to the media, the state BJP chief and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, Nitin Gadkari, defended Advani and said that the BJP prime ministerial candidate had come to Mumbai only to give a morale booster to the city's stressed citizens at a crucial time.

Two Canadians injured, six still hostage in Mumbai

Toronto, Nov 28 (IANS) Though Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon Thursday refused to confirm whether any Canadian was killed or injured in the terror attacks in Mumbai, two Canadians are reported to be among those injured and six among those still being held hostage.

According to reports here, the injured Canadians were part of a meditation group that was staying at the Oberoi-Trident hotel.

The Virginia-based mediation group Synchronicity Foundation, which organised the mediation tour of India, said in a statement: "In response to the many inquiries about our program currently being held in India, 25 participants (comprising 16 Americans, four Canadians and five Australians) were participating in a spiritual program being held at the Oberoi hotel in Mumbai.

"We have confirmed that two of our American and two Canadian participants received gunshot wounds. One remains in intensive care with three bullet wounds but is conscious and believed to be out of danger.

"Two others are recovering after surgery and the fourth has been released having been treated for a flesh wound," the statement said, adding two members (both Americans) of the party are currently unaccounted for.

Several eyewitness accounts reported the two being shot in the restaurant and they are feared dead, it said.

"While many of the other participants are still being held in their rooms by authorities at the hotel, we believe them to be in parts of the hotel that have been secured by the police/military", the statement said.

According to local media reports, Helen Connolly, who teaches yoga at the Ah Yogahh studio foundation in Markham on the outskirts of Toronto, also suffered bullet injuries in the terror attack.

She is staying with a local host family after being released from the hospital, and "is doing exceptionally well," the Toronto Star quoted foundation vice president Bobbie Garvey as saying from Mumbai.

When this correspondent called Connolly's phone number, her voicemail message said: "I am away at the moment and will return December 4, so please leave a message or try calling after that date."

Terrorists who attacked Mumbai linked to Al Qaeda: Russian official

Moscow, Nov 28 (RIA Novosti) The terrorists who attacked Mumbai are closely linked to Al Qaeda, a high-ranking Russian secret service source said Thursday.

"Russian secret services have information suggesting that the groups that attacked Mumbai had contact with Al Qaeda," the source said.

"In particular, the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba. This group's militants undergo special training in Al Qaeda camps on the border between Pakistan and India."

The source also said that the Indian authorities had earlier considered the group an ordinary "criminal" gang.

He said Russian secret services had not so far received any request to assist their Indian colleagues in the investigation into the attacks.

Lashkar-e-Taiba has denied involvement in the attacks.

A series of terrorist attacks were carried out in Mumbai Wednesday, killing over 100 people and leaving over 300 injured.

Terrorists armed with submachine guns and grenades attacked two five-star hotels, the largest railway terminus, a cinema, and a hospital. Indian authorities said 125 people died and 327 were injured in the attacks.

People who escaped from the hotels described the militants as young men speaking Hindi or Urdu, and said they had attempted to round up all the British and American guests.

A previously unknown Islamist group calling itself the "Deccan Mujahideen" has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

European Parliament members in Mumbai safe: EU official

Brussels, Nov 28 (IANS) A delegation from the European Parliament (EP), including seven deputies who were staying in one of the hotels that was attacked in Mumbai, are safe and will be returning home soon, an official said Thursday.

"We are very much relieved that the French Consulate is now working in close cooperation with the European Parliament to ensure a quick return of the delegation of the European Parliament that was visiting Mumbai and was staying in one of the hotels that was attacked," said EP President Hans-Gert Poettering here Thursday, EuAsiaNews reported.

"I have been personally in touch with them and assured myself that they and the parliament staff are as well as can be expected, and would like to thank all diplomats who helped our delegation in this extremely critical situation," he said.

The MEPs were in Mumbai as a delegation of the EP International Trade Committee. The delegation was led by Ignasi Guardans Cambo of Spain, and included Erika Mann of Germany, Syed Kamall of Britain, Béla Glattfelder of Hungary, Daniel Caspary of Germany, Jan Tadeusz Masiel of Poland and Sajjad Karim of Britain.

Poettering strongly and vehemently condemned "these tragic multiple terrorist attacks" and said this is a crime that cannot be tolerated under any circumstances.

"Fighting terrorism must remain a key political priority for the international community. It is a global problem and a challenge for everyone. We must use all the resources that the rule of law places at our disposal to defeat terrorism together once and for all," said the EP President.

"On behalf of the European Parliament, I would like to convey a message of solidarity to the Indian people and their authorities. We stand with the families of the victims in this time of mourning," he added.

The terror strike in Mumbai, which began Wednesday night, has claimed at least 110 lives and left more than 310 people injured.

Four Punjab people among 101 killed in Mumbai terror attack

Mohali (Punjab), Nov 28 (IANS) The terror strikes in Mumbai Wednesday night that left at least 101 dead and about 287 injured, were not an attack only on the denizens of India's financial capital. People from elsewhere in the country also figured among the victims.

Four residents of Mohali district in Punjab, around 10 km away from Chandigarh, lost their lives in the terror attacks that rocked the whole nation.

Jasmine Kaur, 22, who hailed from Mohali and worked as front desk executive at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, was doing a night shift when the terrorists suddenly entered the premises and opened fire indiscriminately.

"Jasmine was hit on her shoulder by three bullets. She was taken to a nearby hospital but declared brought dead by the doctors," said one of her relatives who was at her house here.

Her father Maninder Singh, a Deputy Inspector General in the Indo-Tibet Border Police, has left for Mumbai with his wife to bring back the body of their daughter.

Jasmine was working with the Taj group for the last two years and was posted in its hotels at Shimla, Rajasthan and Delhi before joining at Mumbai two months ago.

Retired Army officer Jagtar Singh Kang has lost his daughter-in-law Niti Kang and two grandsons Udai Kang and Samar Kang in the terror strike, official sources said.

The three had gone to the hotel to meet Jagtar's son, Karan Veer Singh Kang, who worked there in a senior position.

Control room, helplines set up for foreign missions

New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS) The external affairs ministry has set up a control room to assist Indian and foreign missions with information about the foreigners trapped in the two luxury hotels in Mumbai where the terrorists struck Wednesday night.

The control room is being manned round-the-clock. Those seeking information can call at:

I) +91 11 2301 5300; II) +91 11 2301 2113; and III) +91 11 2301 3537. Fax: +91 11 2301 8158

Six foreign nationals are reported to have been killed in the terror attacks. A Japanese and an Australian have been confirmed dead in the blasts.

The terror attacks at different locations in Mumbai killed a total of 101 people and injured over 250.

The names of five foreigners killed are: Bret Gilbert Taylor, 49, from England; Michael Stuart, 73; Jurberg Hatraz, 68; Starder Dapley, 50; and Andres Devoras, 75.

Human intelligence could have averted attacks: Navy officials

New Delhi/Mumbai, Nov 28 (IANS) A network of human intelligence could have averted the terror attacks in Mumbai, navy officials said, pointing out that the perpetrators had an unchecked entry through the open sea but had run into some fishermen soon after landing at the Sassoon Dock.

The terrorists, who wreaked havoc at seven locations in Mumbai Wednesday night, had arrived by a rubber dinghy and moored it at a fisherman's colony by the beach near Sassoon Dock, eyewitnesses said Thursday.

The Indian Navy launched surveillance operations on the approaches to Mumbai following reports that the terrorists had used a sea route to enter the city.

“The Indian Navy has undertaken surveillance on the approaches to the Mumbai harbour. We have also sought aircraft from the Coast Guard also for patrolling the coastline," Vice Admiral J.S. Bedi, commander-in-chief of the Indian Navy's western command, said in Mumbai.

A merchant vessel, which is suspected to have brought terrorists to the city's harbour, was intercepted Thursday evening but it “came clear”. The surveillance of the coastline will continue throughout the night.

However, navy officials stress the need for more human intelligence as the incident of fishermen spotting the terrorists on Sassoon Dock shows.

According to the account of eyewitnesses that corroborated the version of Maharashtra Deputy chief Minister R.R. Patil, the boat carried 10 terrorists and a large number of what looked like heavy cartons.

According to some fishermen who were near the beach at the time, they got suspicious about the movements of the 10 people who had arrived on the boat.

"Since they did not at all look like fishermen, we asked them what they were unloading on the beach. One of them told us bluntly in Hindi to mind our own business," said one of the fishermen.

He also revealed that while eight of them alighted from the boat, two went away on the boat.

All the targets in Mumbai are either seafront locations or close to the Arabian Sea.

“The possibility of terrorists using the sea route to enter the city is quite possible as an open sea provides a large area for infiltration. The sea border is very porous. Technology cannot be used to keep an eye on the movement of people or vessels.

"A cultivated network of human intelligence is the need of hour as it would be easier to keep track of any suspicious vessel or person in the vicinity,” a senior navy official said in New Delhi.

India can deal with Mumbai terror strikes: Pranab

Mumbai, Nov 28 (IANS) India asserted Thursday it had the wherewithal to deal with the coordinated terror strikes in this commercial capital, even as it expressed appreciation for the offers of help that have come in from world capitals.

"We are monitoring and tackling the situation ourselves and will bring the culprits to book in no time. However, it is taking time because we want to avoid civilian casualties," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told a TV news channel by phone from New Delhi.

The minister said that during the day he had received telephone calls from US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, as also the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, Oman and Israel, as well as the secretary general of the Arab League expressing solidarity with India and offering support and assistance.

"We appreciate their gesture," Mukherjee said.

Referring to his discussions Wednesday with his visiting Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Mukherjee said he had received some proposals on countering terrorism and these would be given "due consideration".

Asked about reports that naval vessels were chasing two ships that are suspected to have landed the terrorists in Mumbai, Mukherjee said: "Detailed information was being collected."

The Mumbai cops who died in the line of duty

Mumbai, Nov 28 (IANS) The 14 policemen who died while fighting terrorists in Mumbai:

Inspector General of Police Hemant Karkare
Deputy Inspector General Ashok Kamte
Sub Inspector Prakash More
Sub Inspector Dudgude
Police Inspector Vijay Salascar
Police Inspector Shushant Shinde
Assistant Sub Inspector Nanasaheb Bhonsle
Assistant Sub Inspector Ombele

Constables:

Vijay Khandekar
Jaywant Patil
Yogesh Patil
Ambados Pawar
M.C. Chaudhary
Chitre

Mumbai terror attacks: Timeline

Mumbai, Nov 28 (IANS) Terrorists struck 13 times in Mumbai late Wednesday-early Thursday, according to Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. Here is the timeline of the strikes:

1) 21.20 - Firing outside Hotel Oberoi-Trident at Nariman Point in south Mumbai.

2) 21.30 - Firing outside Leopold Café at Colaba ni south Mumbai.

3) 21.40 - Firing near Bade Miyan café, behind the Taj hotel at Colaba in south Mumbai.

4) 21.45 - Firing inside the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) in central Mumbai.

5) 22.30 - Firing at Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai headquarters gate 2, opposite CST.

6) 22.35 - Firing at Gokuldas Tejpal Hospital, near CST.

7) 22.40 - Firing at Cama Hospital, near CST.

8) 22.50 - Firing at Metro Theatre.

9) 23.00 - Blast rips a cab in Vile Parle in north Mumbai.

10) 23.00 - Blast rips a cab in Mazgaon.

11) 23.10 - Firing, two blasts at Napean Sea Road in south Mumbai.

12) 23.30 - Blast at Dhobi Talao.

13) 00.30 - Firing after hijacking a police van at Trident Oberoi Hotel.

Mumbai is no stranger to terror attacks. Past major terror incidents are:

1) July 11, 2006: 200 killed in seven blasts which ripped first-class compartments of suburban trains.

2) Aug 25, 2003: 46 killed in two blasts, including one outside the Taj Mahal Hotel.

3) March 12, 1993: 12 serial bomb blasts at different locations kill 257.

IANS

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