57 dead in India terror bombing
Sunday 14 February 2010
Hindu nationalist leaders have demanded that new peace talks with Pakistan be cancelled after a bomb blast in a crowded bakery in Pune killed nine
people and wounded 57.
The explosion on Saturday, caused by a bomb left in an unattended bag, was the first major terrorist attack in India since the 2008 Mumbai massacre.
The blast ripped open the German Bakery in Pune, leaving a heavy toll of human injuries. The bakery is close to the Osho meditation retreat and a Jewish
centre that officials say were previously scouted by a terrorist suspect now detained in the US.
Security forces were put on high alert on Sunday at airports, train stations and markets across the country.
Sectarian political leaders blamed the attack on Pakistan and demanded the government call off next week's peace talks, the first between the
nuclear-armed neighbours since the Mumbai siege.
Arun Jaitley, a top leader of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, said: "India's initiative to hold peace talks with Pakistan is misconceived and adventurous."
Mr Jaitley insisted that India shouldn't restart peace talks until Pakistan stopped allowing terrorists to base themselves in the country - and punished those
involved in the Mumbai attacks.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani denounced the blast and indicated he wanted talks to go ahead.
"We condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," Gilani told reporters.
The bombing was the first major terrorist attack in India since 10 gunmen rampaged through the financial hub of Mumbai in November 2008, killing 166.
Talks scheduled for February 25 in New Delhi would be the two countries' first formal negotiations since.
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/86826
BJP demands talks with Pakistan be called off
New Delhi, Feb 14 : A day after the terror bombing in Pune that killed nine people, the Bharatiya Janata Party Sunday demanded that India's proposed foreign
secretary level talks with Pakistan be called off.
"Terror and talks cannot co-exist. When terror threatens India, then not talking is also a legitimate diplomatic option," BJP spokesperson Arun Jaitley told
reporters here.
Foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan will meet in New Delhi Feb 25. This follows India's decision to go back on its earlier insistence that no talks with
Pakistan would take place till the masterminds of the Mumbai terror attack were punished.
Jaitley accused the Indian government of taking an unexplained "U-turn" on its negotiating stand in the peace dialogue with Pakistan.
"So (long) as Pakistan continues building an infrastructure for terror against India, and till such time that there is no cooperation in the context of 26/11, we
cannot talk to Pakistan," he said, referring to the attack on Mumbai by Pakistani terrorists that left 166 people dead.
"The composite dialogue cannot proceed," Jaitley added.
Jaitely's views were also echoed by his party colleague and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, who said her "party is of firm view that
the Indo-Pak talks must not be resumed".
"Time and again, inside parliament and outside it, even the government has been maintaining that the talks must not be resumed unless Pakistan takes
some solid steps to bring 26/11 culprits to book."
"And both the home minister and the foreign minister have been maintaining that Pakistan has taken no solid step to bring the 26/11 culprits to book," she
told reporters later in the day.
Rejecting the government's contention that "calling off talks on the ground of terror attack in Pune will amount to falling into terrorists' trap", Swaraj said she
was "not able to comprehend the 180-degree U-turn taken by the government" on India-Pakistan talks.
Jaitley also found fault with the government's announcement to allow Kashmiris who crossed over to Pakistan for arms training in the early 1990s to return to
India, saying it would "legitimise infiltration" of terrorists.
He called it, along with the decision to talk to Pakistan, as "misconceived and adventurous".
"It is possible the central government is thinking of softening borders. Today's situation does not permit this. The BJP urges the government to reconsider
both these steps - allowing persons from PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) to return and resuming the dialogue with Pakistan," he added.
The BJP condemned Saturday's bomb blast in Pune which killed nine people and injured 57. The blast took place in German Bakery, a popular eatery.
"The German Bakery is in the neighborhood of a Jewish settlement. The bakery is also visited by foreigners from the Osho Ashram. The targeting of foreign
nationals is also intended to create an international impact. This blast establishes that those inimical to India are continuing their war against India," Jaitley
said.
"....Indians will not accept India as a soft state. The government of India must seriously introspect whether our Intelligence collection and security responses
are still inadequate. How then was a place visited by David Hadley still unprotected?" he added.
The BJP leader said: "The recommencement of the dialogue with Pakistan, irrespective of whether Pakistan stops allowing its soil to be used for terror
against India, has made utterances of Pakistani leaders and Jehadi groups more belligerent. What has happened in Pune is a grim reminder to all of us
about the fragility of our security and the adventurist traps we are walking into".
--IANS
http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-51358.html
Lashkar, Headley link to Pune blast?
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Pune, Feb 14:
Investigators believe they have definite leads about Pune's bomb attack. The prime suspect, sources say, is Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba, but with
elements of the Indian Mujahideen (IM).
The bomb has the signature style of the IM. An initial report says the explosive is a mixture of Amonium Nitrate maybe mixed with RDX.
But the biggest lead could be from David Headley, the Pak-born US citizen, linked to the Lashkar-e-Toiba.
He visited India just before 26/11 and even after that. He was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in October 2009.
He had surveyed Chhabad house and Osho ashram in Pune. Once he was arrested in the US, these places, seen as "hard" targets were put on alert and
got police cover but "soft" targets like the German bakery barely 100 feet away didn't.
When asked whether the state government didn't take the advice seriously, Home Minister P Chidambaram said, "No, not correct. The state government has
taken the advice seriously. Police had put in place security measures in the hard targets like Chhabad house and Osho ashram and some places like the
hotel have their own security systems. So I think, everyone was aware that it was a vulnerable area and it is an unfortunate incident it was on the radar of
terrorists and not an intelligence failure."
So, what do investigators believe is Headley's link to the Pune blast?
Hence, India on Sunday put pressure on the US, to give access to David Headley.
There are number of legal problems there but we have not given up our case that we must be given access to David Headley for interrogation," said the
Home Minister.
http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=27015
Sunday 14 February 2010
Hindu nationalist leaders have demanded that new peace talks with Pakistan be cancelled after a bomb blast in a crowded bakery in Pune killed nine
people and wounded 57.
The explosion on Saturday, caused by a bomb left in an unattended bag, was the first major terrorist attack in India since the 2008 Mumbai massacre.
The blast ripped open the German Bakery in Pune, leaving a heavy toll of human injuries. The bakery is close to the Osho meditation retreat and a Jewish
centre that officials say were previously scouted by a terrorist suspect now detained in the US.
Security forces were put on high alert on Sunday at airports, train stations and markets across the country.
Sectarian political leaders blamed the attack on Pakistan and demanded the government call off next week's peace talks, the first between the
nuclear-armed neighbours since the Mumbai siege.
Arun Jaitley, a top leader of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, said: "India's initiative to hold peace talks with Pakistan is misconceived and adventurous."
Mr Jaitley insisted that India shouldn't restart peace talks until Pakistan stopped allowing terrorists to base themselves in the country - and punished those
involved in the Mumbai attacks.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani denounced the blast and indicated he wanted talks to go ahead.
"We condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," Gilani told reporters.
The bombing was the first major terrorist attack in India since 10 gunmen rampaged through the financial hub of Mumbai in November 2008, killing 166.
Talks scheduled for February 25 in New Delhi would be the two countries' first formal negotiations since.
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/86826
BJP demands talks with Pakistan be called off
New Delhi, Feb 14 : A day after the terror bombing in Pune that killed nine people, the Bharatiya Janata Party Sunday demanded that India's proposed foreign
secretary level talks with Pakistan be called off.
"Terror and talks cannot co-exist. When terror threatens India, then not talking is also a legitimate diplomatic option," BJP spokesperson Arun Jaitley told
reporters here.
Foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan will meet in New Delhi Feb 25. This follows India's decision to go back on its earlier insistence that no talks with
Pakistan would take place till the masterminds of the Mumbai terror attack were punished.
Jaitley accused the Indian government of taking an unexplained "U-turn" on its negotiating stand in the peace dialogue with Pakistan.
"So (long) as Pakistan continues building an infrastructure for terror against India, and till such time that there is no cooperation in the context of 26/11, we
cannot talk to Pakistan," he said, referring to the attack on Mumbai by Pakistani terrorists that left 166 people dead.
"The composite dialogue cannot proceed," Jaitley added.
Jaitely's views were also echoed by his party colleague and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, who said her "party is of firm view that
the Indo-Pak talks must not be resumed".
"Time and again, inside parliament and outside it, even the government has been maintaining that the talks must not be resumed unless Pakistan takes
some solid steps to bring 26/11 culprits to book."
"And both the home minister and the foreign minister have been maintaining that Pakistan has taken no solid step to bring the 26/11 culprits to book," she
told reporters later in the day.
Rejecting the government's contention that "calling off talks on the ground of terror attack in Pune will amount to falling into terrorists' trap", Swaraj said she
was "not able to comprehend the 180-degree U-turn taken by the government" on India-Pakistan talks.
Jaitley also found fault with the government's announcement to allow Kashmiris who crossed over to Pakistan for arms training in the early 1990s to return to
India, saying it would "legitimise infiltration" of terrorists.
He called it, along with the decision to talk to Pakistan, as "misconceived and adventurous".
"It is possible the central government is thinking of softening borders. Today's situation does not permit this. The BJP urges the government to reconsider
both these steps - allowing persons from PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) to return and resuming the dialogue with Pakistan," he added.
The BJP condemned Saturday's bomb blast in Pune which killed nine people and injured 57. The blast took place in German Bakery, a popular eatery.
"The German Bakery is in the neighborhood of a Jewish settlement. The bakery is also visited by foreigners from the Osho Ashram. The targeting of foreign
nationals is also intended to create an international impact. This blast establishes that those inimical to India are continuing their war against India," Jaitley
said.
"....Indians will not accept India as a soft state. The government of India must seriously introspect whether our Intelligence collection and security responses
are still inadequate. How then was a place visited by David Hadley still unprotected?" he added.
The BJP leader said: "The recommencement of the dialogue with Pakistan, irrespective of whether Pakistan stops allowing its soil to be used for terror
against India, has made utterances of Pakistani leaders and Jehadi groups more belligerent. What has happened in Pune is a grim reminder to all of us
about the fragility of our security and the adventurist traps we are walking into".
--IANS
http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-51358.html
Lashkar, Headley link to Pune blast?
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Pune, Feb 14:
Investigators believe they have definite leads about Pune's bomb attack. The prime suspect, sources say, is Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba, but with
elements of the Indian Mujahideen (IM).
The bomb has the signature style of the IM. An initial report says the explosive is a mixture of Amonium Nitrate maybe mixed with RDX.
But the biggest lead could be from David Headley, the Pak-born US citizen, linked to the Lashkar-e-Toiba.
He visited India just before 26/11 and even after that. He was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in October 2009.
He had surveyed Chhabad house and Osho ashram in Pune. Once he was arrested in the US, these places, seen as "hard" targets were put on alert and
got police cover but "soft" targets like the German bakery barely 100 feet away didn't.
When asked whether the state government didn't take the advice seriously, Home Minister P Chidambaram said, "No, not correct. The state government has
taken the advice seriously. Police had put in place security measures in the hard targets like Chhabad house and Osho ashram and some places like the
hotel have their own security systems. So I think, everyone was aware that it was a vulnerable area and it is an unfortunate incident it was on the radar of
terrorists and not an intelligence failure."
So, what do investigators believe is Headley's link to the Pune blast?
Hence, India on Sunday put pressure on the US, to give access to David Headley.
There are number of legal problems there but we have not given up our case that we must be given access to David Headley for interrogation," said the
Home Minister.
http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=27015
