Subscribe to Print Edition | Wed., December 03, 2008 Kislev 6, 5769 | | Israel Time: 22:43 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate GA 2008 Travel Week's End Anglo File
Last update - 15:09 02/12/2008
Indian navy: 'Systemic failure' led to Mumbai terror attacks
By Reuters
Tags: Israel news, India 

The Indian navy said a "systemic failure" of security and intelligence services led to the Islamist militant attacks in Mumbai that killed 183 people, PTI news agency reported on Tuesday.

India's police, coast guard and intelligence communities are pointing fingers over whether information existed that could have been acted on to prevent the three-day rampage in the financial hub.

"There is perhaps a (gap) that exists and we will work to sort this out. There is a systemic failure which needs to be taken stock of," navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta said at a press conference.
Advertisement
Intelligence sources told the NDTV news channel they had issued a series of warnings of a possible attack on Mumbai by sea in the months leading up to last week's strike.

The latest, warning that the "sea wing" of Pakistani-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba was planning to attack, was issued just eight days before, the TV channel said.

Mehta promised the government would give an adequate response to the militant attacks, adding the navy had not received any "actionable" information which could have prevented the attack, PTI reported.

Fishermen, who are sometimes seen as the eyes and ears of the coast guard in India, said the government had ignored their warnings four months ago about militants using sea routes to land RDX explosives in Mumbai with help from the city's underworld.

Many Indians have expressed anger at apparent intelligence lapses and a slow reaction by security forces to the attacks against Mumbai's two best-known luxury hotels and other landmarks in the city of 18 million.

Mehta called for better coordination among intelligence and security agencies, and said the government was aware of the public outcry and debate that followed the Mumbai attacks, PTI reported.

"We are fully conscious of it and the debate. The point is it is a serious issue ... a serious matter of security."

Pakistan offers India joint investigation of attack

Pakistan offered on Tuesday to help India investigate the militant assault on Mumbai and said it would "frame a response" to an Indian demand that it hand over 20 of India's most wanted men.

India has blamed Islamist militants based in Pakistan for last week's attacks in India's financial capital.

Pakistan has condemned the assault, denied any involvement by state agencies and vowed to work with India in its investigation. It has rejected what it called unsubstantiated allegations of complicity.

Tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours over the attacks has led to fears of renewed confrontation after Pakistan's civilian government had been trying to push forward a tentative peace process.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, speaking in a televised address, repeated a Pakistani offer of cooperation, saying it was not the time for a "blame game, taunts (and) finger-pointing".

"The government of Pakistan has offered a joint investigating mechanism and a joint commission to India. We are ready to jointly go into the depth of this issue and we are ready to compose a team that could help you," Qureshi said.

"Pakistan wants good relations with India," he said.

Earlier, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters India was demanding the handover of about 20 fugitives it believes are in Pakistan.

The demand was contained in a protest note handed to Pakistan's ambassador in New Delhi on Monday, he said.

Mukherjee also told reporters India was not considering military action in response to the Mumbai attacks.

Qureshi did not refer to the Indian list of fugitives but Information Minister Sherry Rehman told reporters the government would respond: "We have to look at it formally once we get it and we will frame a response."

The tension with India comes as Pakistan's civilian government, elected this year, is struggling with an economic crisis and its own campaign against militant violence.

Despite the tension with India, the Pakistani rupee firmed slightly, buoyed by the arrival last week of the first tranche of a $7.6 billion loan, dealers said.

As tension with India has grown, Pakistan has been trying to drum up international support and forge unity at home. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani met politicians in a national security conference on Tuesday to build a consensus.

Indian media reported the men on the list included Dawood Ibrahim, a Mumbai underworld don, and Maulana Masood Azhar, a Pakistani Muslim cleric freed from jail in India in exchange for passengers on a hijacked plane.

The demand for the handover of about 20 fugitives was originally made in the wake of a December 2001 attack on India's parliament that India blamed on Pakistan-based militants.

Pakistan said at the time it wanted to see evidence. Then Pakistani president and army chief Pervez Musharraf said he would never extradite Pakistani citizens to India but he did not rule out sending back Indian nationals.

The 2001 attack on India's parliament nearly set off the fourth war between the two countries since Pakistan was carved from India in 1947 at the time of independence from Britain.

Pakistan has warned that if tension with India escalates, it would have to move troops from its Afghan border-where it is battling al Qaeda and Taliban fighters responsible for violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan- to the Indian border.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who will visit India on Wednesday, has played down the threat of conflict.

Pakistan's the News newspaper said Rice was also due to visit Pakistan after India. A U.S. embassy spokesman said he was not aware of any plan by Rice to come to Pakistan.
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
A U.S. warning
The Indian government faces accusations of intelligence failures after the attacks.
Mistaken Identity
Peres' handshake with Egypt's Grand Sheik is raising a few eyebrows.
  1.   Was it really a systemic failure?????? 16:20  |  Ben 02/12/08
  2.   Ben 18:44  |  Al 02/12/08
  3.   Heads will roll. India will go Right 19:24  |  Avi 02/12/08
  4.   Terror threat: We need to act fast! 03:56  |  Jimmy 03/12/08
  5.   chabad center elevated to "mumbai landmark" status 22:31  |  odles 03/12/08
 Read & React
Bradley Burston / The Jihadi as Nazi, from 9/11 to Mumbai
Responses: 157
IDF declares Hebron `house of contention` a closed military zone
Responses: 83
Amira Hass: Hamas sacrificing Islamic religious rite to keep its iron grip on Gaza
Responses: 34
Experts urge Obama to negotiate with Iran, advance Syria peace
Responses: 67
Palestinian seriously hurt in Jerusalem stabbing; says Jews attacked him
Responses: 73
Rabbi, priest and imam pray together for rain on Kinneret
Responses: 30


More Headlines
22:35 Livni: Israel must not let itself turn into the 'wild west'
20:06 Israel deploys hundreds of riot police as tensions in Hebron escalate
19:46 Report: Argentina to halt trade with Iran over Jewish center bombings
16:45 Israeli Arab leaders vow to sail to Gaza to break blockade
16:56 JEWISH WORLD / Obama must help Israel break its territorial addiction
18:27 Egypt MP: We won't let Hamas form an Islamic emirate in Gaza
21:31 Britain to host Fayyad and Olmert for separate talks this month
14:12 Palestinian seriously hurt in Jerusalem stabbing, says Jews attacked him
15:39 Three Qassams hit west Negev, further unraveling Gaza truce
20:21 Ido Pollak appointed CEO of TheMarker
16:54 The Jihadi as Nazi, from 9/11 to Mumbai
20:40 Two men injured in shooting incident in south Tel Aviv
21:23 U.S. court upholds $156 million judgment against Palestinian charities
19:44 Israeli expert: 70,000 children suffer abuse each year in Israel
Previous Editions
Special Offers
Advertisement
Israeli Style
Summer in Israel
Living in Israel Studying in English
Click & Meet our students from all around the world
Fattal Hotel Chain
Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel.
Car rental in Israel
Shlomo Sixt Receive $15.00 from our low rates.
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations
Jewish Singles Personal Ads
Find the love of your life on JDate.com
Israel's Premier Real Estate Website
www. israel-property.com
Hebrew Summer courses
From $39.95
Junkyard
Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |
Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel
birthright Israel | Search engine marketing
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved