Mumbai Terror Attack Planned in Pakistan, Top Official Admits

Last November's terrorist attack on Mumbai was planned and launched from Pakistan, authorities in Islamabad said for the first time yesterday, as they revealed they were holding six suspects in connection with the assault.

Pakistan's interior ministry accused eight people of masterminding the atrocity in which 170 people were killed. Six of those are in custody and cases against all the accused were filed yesterday. The ministry said most, possibly all, belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant group which India had accused of carrying out the attack.

Never before has Pakistan appeared to take such action against a significant jihadist outfit in the country. It had been unclear until yesterday whether there was a serious investigation going on in Pakistan, amid Islamabad's denials that there was any proof its citizens were involved. The outcome was welcomed in India as a "positive development".

"Some part of the conspiracy has taken place in Pakistan," Rehman Malik, the prime minister's adviser on internal affairs said yesterday. "I want to assure the international community, I want to assure all those who have been victims of terrorism, that we mean business."

Among those being held, said Malik, was Hamad Amin Sadiq, 38, whom he described as the "main operator". Sadiq had not previously been named as a suspect.

A resident of Karachi, he is believed to be a senior member of Lashkar-e-Taiba and originally from the south of Punjab province, a region known as a hotbed for religious militancy.

Malik said Pakistani investigators had discovered one of the boats used by the Mumbai assailants and found the crew, confirming that they set off from Karachi. They traced the shop in Karachi where a boat engine was bought to power the inflatable craft used to land in India as well as the bank account used for payment.

The group had made extensive use of international internet and telephone communications, Malik said. One suspect, a man named Javed Iqbal, who lived in Barcelona, set up phone accounts in Europe, which allowed the attackers to make calls over the internet. He was "lured" back to Pakistan during the investigation and arrested. Phones were used by the attackers in Mumbai to keep in touch with their handlers throughout the operation.

Malik said the conspirators were "non-state actors", a response to earlier Indian accusations that the Pakistani state - especially its Inter-Services Intelligence Agency - orchestrated the attack.

The leaders of Lashkar-e-Taiba, including founder Hafiz Saeed, were placed under house arrest soon after the attack, but the Pakistani investigation made no claims against them. Only one of the 10 gunmen, Ajmal Kasab, was captured alive. The investigators have been unable to trace the origins of any of the nine others saying that not enough information on them had been provided by India.

Islamabad has submitted 30 questions to India and said its investigators have not seen notes from the interrogation of Kasab. "We will continue our investigation, but we want tenable evidence from India. We want full cooperation from India so that this kind of ring be smashed," said Malik.

There were reports in Pakistan last night that the trial of the accused would be held at a special court inside the top security Adiala jail, near Islamabad.