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Saudi Arabia's policy shift toward India helps nab terror suspects
NEW DELHI For years, India watched helplessly as many of its most-wanted terrorist suspects traveled freely to Saudi Arabia from Pakistan using new identities and passports and without fear of arrest.
But things appear to have changed. Last week, Saudi Arabia deported an Indian accused of involvement in the deadly 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, which killed 166 people, including six Americans. And just when Indians thought it was an isolated case, news came that Riyadh is likely to deport another accused terrorist to India within the next few weeks.
The shift in Riyadhs policy toward New Delhi is part of Saudi Arabias larger foreign policy makeover after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, analysts say.
This deportation is really a first, and it signals Saudi Arabias changing attitude toward India as much as it also signals the internal changes in Saudi society, said K.C. Singh, former Indian diplomat and columnist.
They are inviting India to a more strategic relationship. It coincides with India aligning itself with American interests, and Indias cautious distancing from Iran.
Saudi Arabia also provides India an ideal gateway to the entire Arab region where it has little influence compared to Pakistan. The kingdom can help expand Indias quest for energy in the region, improve its access to new trading partners and help New Delhi address radicalism among hundreds of thousands of Indian Muslims who migrate to the Middle East for lucrative work.
Saudi Arabia has not exactly been Indias friend all these years. In fact, Riyadh has resolutely supported Pakistan on many international platforms, especially on the vexing dispute between India and Pakistan over the Himalayan province of Kashmir.
But the handover last week of Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari is deeply embarrassing for Pakistan because his evidence points to the involvement of the Pakistani state in the Mumbai attacks, Indian officials said. On Thursday, Islamabad denied the charge.
Investigators said it was Zabiuddins voice that was heard from a control room in Pakistan guiding the 10 gunmen in Mumbai as they went about shooting people at a café, two five-star hotels, a train station and a Jewish prayer center. The FBI helped intercept the calls and presented them to Indian authorities, officials said.
Zabiuddin, who is also known as Abu Jundal, later traveled to Saudi Arabia with a Pakistani passport and began raising funds there and recruiting other men for future attacks, investigators said. The United States tracked him to the kingdom and alerted New Delhi and Riyadh, officials said.
It is no longer safe for Indian terrorists living in Pakistan to travel to Saudi Arabia with new names and Pakistani passports, said a senior intelligence officer, who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Many of them go there routinely for the Hajj pilgrimage and Islamic charity. Some also go to Saudi Arabia to enlist Indian laborers into their militant network.
In May, police in Saudi Arabia detained another Indian, Fasih Mehmood, who is accused in India of being involved in a bomb blast outside a cricket stadium and an incident in which gunmen shot at foreign tourists outside a mosque in 2010.
Indias diplomatic ties with Riyadh began changing in 2006 after Saudi Arabias King Abdullah visited New Delhi. In 2010, the two nations signed several pacts, including agreements on energy, counterterrorism, narcotics, money laundering and extradition.
A year ago, Riyadh agreed to double its oil exports to India, helping New Delhi reduce its reliance on Iran.
But the recent warmth and the deportation do not mean that Riyadh has swung away from Pakistan completely, said a foreign official.
Richard Leiby in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
The Washington Post
Saudi Arabia's policy shift toward India helps nabs terror suspects - The Washington Post
NEW DELHI For years, India watched helplessly as many of its most-wanted terrorist suspects traveled freely to Saudi Arabia from Pakistan using new identities and passports and without fear of arrest.
But things appear to have changed. Last week, Saudi Arabia deported an Indian accused of involvement in the deadly 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, which killed 166 people, including six Americans. And just when Indians thought it was an isolated case, news came that Riyadh is likely to deport another accused terrorist to India within the next few weeks.
The shift in Riyadhs policy toward New Delhi is part of Saudi Arabias larger foreign policy makeover after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, analysts say.
This deportation is really a first, and it signals Saudi Arabias changing attitude toward India as much as it also signals the internal changes in Saudi society, said K.C. Singh, former Indian diplomat and columnist.
They are inviting India to a more strategic relationship. It coincides with India aligning itself with American interests, and Indias cautious distancing from Iran.
Saudi Arabia also provides India an ideal gateway to the entire Arab region where it has little influence compared to Pakistan. The kingdom can help expand Indias quest for energy in the region, improve its access to new trading partners and help New Delhi address radicalism among hundreds of thousands of Indian Muslims who migrate to the Middle East for lucrative work.
Saudi Arabia has not exactly been Indias friend all these years. In fact, Riyadh has resolutely supported Pakistan on many international platforms, especially on the vexing dispute between India and Pakistan over the Himalayan province of Kashmir.
But the handover last week of Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari is deeply embarrassing for Pakistan because his evidence points to the involvement of the Pakistani state in the Mumbai attacks, Indian officials said. On Thursday, Islamabad denied the charge.
Investigators said it was Zabiuddins voice that was heard from a control room in Pakistan guiding the 10 gunmen in Mumbai as they went about shooting people at a café, two five-star hotels, a train station and a Jewish prayer center. The FBI helped intercept the calls and presented them to Indian authorities, officials said.
Zabiuddin, who is also known as Abu Jundal, later traveled to Saudi Arabia with a Pakistani passport and began raising funds there and recruiting other men for future attacks, investigators said. The United States tracked him to the kingdom and alerted New Delhi and Riyadh, officials said.
It is no longer safe for Indian terrorists living in Pakistan to travel to Saudi Arabia with new names and Pakistani passports, said a senior intelligence officer, who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Many of them go there routinely for the Hajj pilgrimage and Islamic charity. Some also go to Saudi Arabia to enlist Indian laborers into their militant network.
In May, police in Saudi Arabia detained another Indian, Fasih Mehmood, who is accused in India of being involved in a bomb blast outside a cricket stadium and an incident in which gunmen shot at foreign tourists outside a mosque in 2010.
Indias diplomatic ties with Riyadh began changing in 2006 after Saudi Arabias King Abdullah visited New Delhi. In 2010, the two nations signed several pacts, including agreements on energy, counterterrorism, narcotics, money laundering and extradition.
A year ago, Riyadh agreed to double its oil exports to India, helping New Delhi reduce its reliance on Iran.
But the recent warmth and the deportation do not mean that Riyadh has swung away from Pakistan completely, said a foreign official.
Richard Leiby in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
The Washington Post
Saudi Arabia's policy shift toward India helps nabs terror suspects - The Washington Post
