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Riddle over identity of 'baby face' killer
Kiran Randhawa04.12.08
Police in India and Pakistan were at loggerheads today over the identity of the only surviving terrorist of the Mumbai attacks.
Intelligence officials in Mumbai insist Azam Amir Qasab, "the baby-faced killer", is Pakistani. But investigators across the border say they have no one fitting his description in the country.
The row has led the US to step in to try to avert a war between the nuclear-armed countries. Interrogators in Mumbai say the 24-year-old had told them he was from the village of Faridkot in the southern part of the Pakistani state of the Punjab.
But Pakistani officials claim they could find no one fitting Qasab's description in the region. They also say there are three villages called Faridkot and are unsure which one Indian authorities are referring to.
Deven Bharti, deputy police commissioner in Mumbai and one of the interrogators, said: "We have verified, cross-checked this. We know his father owned a food stall there."
He added Qasab trained at military camps for up to 18 months and that he and the nine gunmen killed in the attacks had been chosen from a group of 24 who had gone through the same extensive training, overseen by an ex-army officer.
Indian officials also claim that two senior leaders of a banned Pakistani militant group masterminded the bloodbath in which 171 people died.
One said Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Yusuf Muzammil are members of the outlawed Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which India blames for the carnage. Muzammil is the group's chief of operations in Kashmir and other parts of India. US officials have identified Lakhvi as chief of operations.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Pakistan today to meet its civilian and military leaders after visiting New Delhi. She urged Pakistan to mount a "robust response" to bring the terrorists to justice.
Reader views (2)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
Put him on the torture rack - he'll soon squeal.... My bet is he is from Britain.
- Bj, sydney, Australia,
"But Pakistani officials claim they could find no one fitting Qasab's description in the region. They also say there are three villages called Faridkot and are unsure which one Indian authorities are referring to."
If they are not sure which Faridkot Indians are refering to,how do they find there is nobody fitting Qasab's description.!!!
Funny right?
- Jinu, Portsmouth,USA
