Characteristics of Plot Suggest Outside Help, Analysts Say
Official Says Two Attackers Were British Citizens of Pakistani Origin
BERLIN, Nov. 28 -- Counterterrorism officials and experts said the scale, sophistication and targets involved in the Mumbai attacks were markedly different from previous terrorist plots in India and suggested the gunmen had received training from outside the country. But they cautioned it was too soon to tell who may have masterminded the operation, despite an assertion from a previously unknown Islamist radical group.
Officials in India, Europe and the United States said likely culprits included Islamist networks based in Pakistan that have received support in the past from Pakistan's intelligence agencies.
Meanwhile, British officials said they were investigating the possibility that two of its citizens were involved in the attacks.
In India, Vilasrao Deshmukh, the chief minister of the state of Maharashtra, which includes Mumbai, told reporters that two of the captured gunmen were British citizens of Pakistani origin. He gave no details.
The British government said it was investigating but unable to confirm the report.
"I would not want to be drawn into early conclusions about this," Prime Minister Gordon Brown told reporters. "There is so much information still to be discovered and made available."
"But obviously when you have terrorists operating in one country they may be getting support from another country or coming from another country," Brown added. "It is very important that we strengthen the cooperation between India and Britain in dealing with these instances of terrorist attacks."
British security officials said they were studying photographs of some attackers but were still trying to establish their nationalities. A team of counterterrorism investigators from Scotland Yard has been sent to Mumbai to assist in the investigation.
"We obviously will want to work very, very closely with the Indians on that, but it is too early to say whether or not any of them are British," David Miliband, the British foreign secretary, said of the suspects.
British intelligence officials have warned for years that scores of Britons Muslims have gone to receive training at militant camps inside Pakistan, including at least three of the bombers in the July 7, 2005, London transit attacks.
Other officials in London, however, denied that there were any links between British citizens and the Mumbai attackers.
"The British deputy high commissioner has spoken to Indian authorities who say there is no evidence that any of the terrorists are British," said a spokesperson for the British Foreign Office, speaking on condition of anonymity, as is customary for government spokesmen.
washingtonpost.com