Sympathies for the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, the group involved in Mumbai carnage, and its jihadist and anti-India culture run deep in the Pakistani establishment, raising a serious challenge to any long-lasting move to dismantle the terror network. The membership of the group banned by the US, United Nations and other major western nations is estimated at 1.5 lakh strong, the New York Times reported questioning claims that the Pakistani establishment had severed ties with the group.
The daily quoted a senior Pakistani ISI officer as saying that connections between Pakistan's spy agency and LeT were so "sundered" that it could not controlled. But the claims fall flat as the paper quoted Pakistan's powerful army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani as having told the US that he was trying to control the LeT. "They say, we are being more vigilant," but add "By the way India has to stop messing around in Baluchistan," an American official privy to the conversation between Washington and Islamabad said. The Times said that the overreaching goal of LeT, which operates under the front of a charity, Jaamat-ud-Dawa, is the defeat of India and also embraces a strong anti-Israeli platform. The Lashkar adheres to Ahl-i-Hadith, a strain of Wahabi sect of Islam, which gives it common goal and grounding with groups like al Qaeda.
Bruce Riedel, who framed US's new Af-Pak policy says "Lashkar-e-Tayiba and al Qaeda are allies in the global Islamic jihad." "They share the same target list and their operatives often work in hide together," Riedel said. The daily however has raised question mark over the Mumbai attack's main accused Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, being the mastermind behind the carnage. While admitting that Lakhvi was involved, NYT said the handlers of the Mumbai attacks spoke fluent English on what seems to be tapes of telephone intercepts provided to Channel 4 for a documentary shown this month.
The daily claimed that 55-year-old Lakhvi does not speak English, according to former LeT members. On the tape, the paper said the handler speaks in chilling tones as he advises the gunmen on targets at which to aim, weapons to use and what to say to hostages and the Indian authorities, while staying calm under pressure. "The LeT was definitely involved, but they had outside help and resistance, the paper said. Though the confession of Kasab, the lone surviving Mumbai attacker has been discounted by Pakistan, but many details conform to descriptions of LeT operations offered by two of its former members to the paper. According to ISI officers, LeT also maintains close links to another jihadi group Jaish-e-Mohammed and both the groups could be controlled.
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