How it started

Some are beginning to call it “India's 9/11,” the attack on the heart of Mumbai that has now for more than twenty-four hours turned the city into an inferno of flames and gunpowder. The city, and all of India, woke up in the morning in the midst of what local television and newspapers, rather than 'terrorist action' have begun to call 'war action.' To be hit, a dozen or so places in what is being called India's New York City. The death toll, still provisional, has risen to one hundred and twenty-five, while three hundred and twenty-seven are reported injured. One of the victims, who jumped on a grenade in the initial stages of the terrorists' assaults, is an Italian citizen, Antonio de Lorenzo. There is still no news, however, of another Italian citizen who is reportedly in the city. Throughout the day, clashes continued in the streets and around the affected buildings: repeated explosions were heard at the Oberoi and the Taj, the five-star hotels stormed. More than seventy hostages have reportedly already been freed, but about two hundred people still remain inside the hotels. In contrast, all the hostages inside Nariman House, the Jewish center where some Israeli citizens were being held, have been freed. Seven terrorists have reportedly been captured, but it is not yet known how many remain inside the buildings yet to be freed, but according to police, the terrorists landed number about two hundred. And Bombay, the economic capital but also the capital of India's version of the 'American dream' (coming from a small town and becoming a billionaire or a Bollywood star) is now a city under siege. And with her, all of India is in shock and on high alert. Some have even called for the blocking of live news coverage, at least during the most crucial stages of the hostage rescue battles. Others are even calling for the declaration of a state of emergency and the formation of a national unity government to deal with the crisis, while questions are also beginning to be asked at this point about the security of India's nuclear bases. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during an address to the nation, pointed the finger, though never explicitly naming it, at Pakistan. Declaring that “India will not tolerate the territories of neighboring states being used as a base to launch terrorist attacks inside the country.” Pakistan, which had previously called the incident “a crime against humanity,” was obviously quick to deny any involvement. According to Indian police sources, however, one or more of the seven terrorists arrested later in the day is said to be a Pakistani national from the port of Karachi. One of those arrested would be one Abu Ismail, a Lashkar- i-Toiba activist from Faridhkot, Pakistan. All the major attacks in recent years in India, on the other hand, have been orchestrated and managed in some way by the Lashkar-i-Toiba, but none previously had more or less statedly targeted tourists and particularly British and American nationals. Even the mode of the operation, the assault of targets by commandos, had never before been employed outside the disputed region of Kashmir. According to leaked rumors from sources close to investigators, the e-mail claiming the unknown Deccan Mujahideen group (Deccan is an ancient Indian kingdom) was actually sent from a Russian server. And the attack, a real war operation coordinated and prepared to perfection, was allegedly organized with the cooperation of the local mafia (which has historical and well-established ties with the Islamic guerrillas) and with the support of the Russian mafia, which has practically taken over the real estate market in neighboring Goa for the past few years. The ongoing battle is still expected to be long and difficult: according to investigators, over the past few months about twelve terrorists have frequented the Taj and the Oberoi, and they know its topography to perfection.

Day 2

One hundred and sixty dead, but according to police sources it could rise to two hundred, and three hundred and thirty wounded. This is the toll of the second day of fighting in Mumbai, which, after nearly forty-eight hours, is still not back to normal. Throughout the day the Indian armed forces and police fought around the Oberoi, the Taj and Nariman House. The Italians held inside the Oberoi have been freed and are already on their way home, but others have not been so lucky. At Nariman House all the hostages were released, but five bodies were found inside, including those of the prayer house rabbi and his wife. Inside the Taj, however, fighting continues. The new wing has been released, but 30 hostages are dead: inside one room, the bodies of 15 people were found. The terrorists moved on to the building's new wing, the 'historic' wing, inside which more hostages would be found. The Oberoi, however, appears to be permanently in the hands of the Indian military. In the 'liberated' wing of the Taj, an Indian army commando found AK-47s, credit cards, dollars, and Mauritius ID cards. In contrast, Chinese-made grenades were found at the Oberoi. And in India, in addition to the actual battle in the streets of Mumbai, the all-political battle rages over the identity, nationality and purpose of the commandos who stormed the city. Some of the captured terrorists belong to Pakistan's Lashkar-i-Toiba Islamic organization, which has been credited with some of the largest attacks on Indian soil in recent years, including the 2001 attack on the Delhi Parliament. They reportedly claimed to have arrived by boat from Karachi, aboard a ship bound for Vietnam. Others would be Pakistani by origin but of British nationality. However, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, interviewed on the subject, was very cautious in crediting the news. Certainly the main accused, today openly accused by Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who has expressly demanded that Pakistan dismantle the training camps and all the infrastructure organized, maintained and set up by the Inter-Service Intelligence (Isi) that help, train and coordinate terrorism to be sent across the border. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh specifically requested the Pakistani government to send the newly elected Isi commander, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha, to Delhi to confer with the government. And, for the first time in history, PM Gilani, albeit amid opposition controversy, agreed. The arrangements are expected to be confirmed in the coming days. On the other hand, Pakistan, through the mouth of PM Gilani, continues to declare itself totally uninvolved in the affair. And President Zardari, during a phone call with Manmohan Singh, reportedly said that “characters who do not belong to the state want to force the government and impose their agenda, but they should not be allowed to do so.” Certainly, no one thinks that terrorists are directly commanded by the government. Just as surely, however, there are splinters in the military and intelligence services who have been allowed for many years to act as they please. Splinters over which, it seems, President Zardari and his government have no control whatsoever. On the contrary. And the prospect, in a sense, appears much more disturbing in this case. The Lashkar-i-Toiba has reportedly denied any responsibility in the affair, blaming the incident on terrorist groups inside India, just as it did in the case of the recent attacks in Delhi. The fact is, however, that the story of autonomous 'Indian groups' unrelated to terrorism from across the border is not believed by anyone at all. Especially in this case. And for the manner of the operation, used frequently in Kashmir and, in part, in the attack on the Delhi Parliament. And because of the kind of weapons, logistical support and type of organization put in place. It is too easy to invoke Al Qaeda whenever terorist attacks of this magnitude are mentioned. The Lashkar-i-Toiba, for example, operates throughout Asia Minor including Chechnya, and in the past has sent fighters as far away as the former Yugoslavia. Supposed links with Al Qaeda, again, would always lead back to Pakistan: to links with the Bombay mafia and old Don Dawood Ibrahim. A resident of Karachi as it happens, whom Pakistan has always refused to hand over to India for another terror incident that also took place in Bombay in 1993. And who is accused by the Americans of being closely linked to Osama bin Laden. 


Day 3

The nightmare is over. In the night, the cream of Indian officers taken by special departments of the Navy, Army, and Bombay Police finally liberated the Taj Hotel and the hostages still inside. The largest terrorist attack ever launched against an Indian city comes to a close after sixty-two hours and with the tragic toll of one hundred and ninety-five dead and more than three hundred injured. Bombay slowly returns to life but, for sure, it will take time, a long time before the minds and hearts of its citizens can return to normal. Time to take stock, to make a first estimate of the damage to the buildings, to the streets, of the wounds left once again by the violence in the heart of the city. Time of disbelief, too. Of controversy and anger. Rumors, in the city as well as throughout India, run rampant. The government of Maharastra, the state of which Mumbai is the capital, said today that it had evidence of Pakistan's involvement in the attack. That the terrorists barricaded inside the buildings were in constant telephone contact with someone in Pakistan who was apparently directing their moves. Credit cards, food for several days, explosives, and ammunition were found in the buildings. It is also said that the 'boys' armed with AK-47s had been trained for more than a year and, again according to Maharshtra Chief Minister Patil, “by Navy experts, familiar with the protocols for special operations.” And that the order to act was given during the annual Lashkar-i-Toiba summit held last week in Muridke, Pakistan. There is also talk of the involvement of Abdul Bari, a Saudi suspected of having repeatedly fnanced terrorist operations on Indian soil. Most importantly, according to intelligence rumors, logistical support would be provided by Dawood Ibrahim, a notorious Don of the Bombay mafia currently residing in Karachi. Wanted by India for the similar role he played in the 1993 attacks also carried out by the Lashkar-i-Toiba and which, again in Bombay, had left more than two hundred dead. Ibrahim is also wanted by the United States for his close ties to Osama bin laden and Al Qaeda, with whom he allegedly ran drug trafficking from Afghanistan for years. Pakistan denies Ibrahim's presence in Karachi, just as it continues to deny any involvement in the current terrorist attack. But while it had originally, in an unprecedented decision, decided to send the head of the infamous Inter-Service Intelligence to Delhi, it has now retracted its decision. To go to India, it is not known when, will instead be one of the organization's senior officers. The Lashkar-i-Toiba, which fights its jihad for a large Islamic nation, ranging from Morocco to Indonesia, also in Chechnya, Afghanistan and Iraq, is officially outlawed in Pakistan. Who knows how, however, Saeed, its founding father, has been roaming the country for years now at large running a humanitarian organization. The same one, incidentally, that took charge of distributing aid that arrived from the West in Kashmir after the 2005 earthquake. 


A day after the storm is over

As calm has returned to the streets of Bombay, thought is being given to reconstruction and to taking stock of the damage suffered by the city. Nariman House suffered deep and possibly irreparable damage, but the Taj and Oberoi will be rebuilt within a few months. Much more difficult, however, will be rebuilding the trust of Indian citizens in institutions and, above all, bringing the fragile peace process between India and Pakistan back to where it was until four days ago. The Indian government has been accused in many quarters of culpable neglect, of never taking effective countermeasures against the terrorist attacks that are now increasingly bloodying streets and cities. Home Minister Shivraji Patil was forced to resign, saying he felt “morally responsible” for the incident. There are accusations from many quarters that the police and intelligence agencies received warnings long ago and did absolutely nothing to verify the information or take appropriate action. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has stated in this regard that a Federal Investigation Agency with special local counterterrorism units will be established immediately, as in the United States or elsewhere. Azam Amir Kasab, the only one of the terrorists to be captured alive, meanwhile reveals the names of five Mumbai nationals who allegedly provided information and logistical support to the commandos. And that one of the specific tasks given to them would be to “target Israeli citizens.” The worst blizzard rages, however, on the international front. Although analysts say they are confident that it will not come to any kind of conflict, relations between India and Pakistan are deteriorating by the hour. The level of alert in India is equal to a state of war, and the Pakistani army and air force are on high alert. The Pakistani army said it has noticed an “increase in military activity across the border,” but India, for the time being, appears to have no intention of massing troops in the area. Instead, the Pakistanis have stated that they are ready to move 100,000 troops from the border with Afghanistan to the border with India and that, should the tension between the two countries escalate, “Afghanistan would certainly not be our priority.” According to analysts, however, there is very little chance that the situation could really escalate, and Pakistan would only be, in essence, trying to pressure the United States by reminding it of the key role the country plays in the war on terror. The good relations between Washington and New Delhi and, most importantly, the civilian nuclear deal recently signed between the two countries and denied, instead, in Islamabad, has been badly digested by the Pakistani government. The blackmail of troop withdrawal from the Afghan front has already been employed on the other hand, and with some success, in 2002 when the two countries had once again come to blows. More worrisome, however, seems to be the ongoing power conflict in Islamabad: President Zardari and Premier Gilani have somehow been forced by the army and Inter-Service Intelligence (Isi), giving more or less fanciful justifications, to go back on their promise to send Lieutenant-General Pasha, head of Isi, to Delhi. 


What happened next

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice will arrive in India next Wednesday to offer cooperation and solidarity to the Indian government but, more importantly, to try to mediate in some way the relations between India and Pakistan that are becoming more strained by the hour. The Indian government summoned the High Commissioner for Pakistan by officially informing him of the involvement of Pakistani elements in the Mumbai terrorist attack carried out, according to Azam Amir Qasab's statements, by terrorists belonging to the Pakistani-based fundamentalist Islamic group of the Lashkar-i-Toiba. However, the group continues to formally deny any responsibility in the incident. So does the Pakistani government, which still denies that there is “any evidence” of any posible involvement of terrorist groups or intelligence services in the country. Washington, officially, still gives Islamabad the benefit of the doubt. Rice said, however, that the United States expects full support and complete transparency in the investigation from the Pakistani government. However, India, as much as it maintains an official attitude of caution and restraint regarding any possible reaction toward Pakistan, must deal with the wave of popular outrage and political storm that has been shaking the country in recent hours. Particularly because earlier in the day there had been an alarm in the capital New Delhi, later withdrawn, of the presence of a bomb found unexploded. And because apparently not all the terrorists in Mumbai have been captured or killed. The Indian government is pressing the United States to finally address the incident internationally and not consider it just yet another problem in the troubled relations between Pakistan and India. Proving the involvement, of the Lashkar-i-Toiba in the events in Bombay means in fact, automatically, to accuse the Pakistani intelligence services that are financiers and supporters of the group. New Delhi is therefore reportedly planning to ask Rice to exert maximum pressure on Islamabad to shut down the training camps (of which the Americans are also reportedly aware) in Pakistani Kashmir, Baluchistan, Gilgit-Baltisan and other border areas; for Pakistan to ban, but this time in earnest, the Lashkar-i-Toiba and Jaish-i-Mohammed, which, though outlawed, continue to operate under other names; and for the extradition of mob boss Dawood Ibrahim. The Pakistanis, in turn, are pressuring Washington by agitating for the withdrawal of troops from the Afghan front, troops that would be moved to Kashmir and its environs. The issue is thorny, not least because it messes up all the plans drawn up by Obama and General Petraeus on the subject. In fact, one of the central points of the White House's 'new' policy in the area should have been the search for a solution to the Kashmir issue, and more exactly a pressure exerted in this sense on the Indian government that would allow Pakistan to concentrate on the Afghan front, at the same time removing a powerful weapon of blackmail from the hands of Islamabad vis-à-vis Washington and an even more powerful weapon of blackmail of the Pakistani army vis-à-vis President Zardari and his government. 


Condoleeza in India-Bangladesh

“There is a need for vigorous and direct action” by Pakistan, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said after meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Islamabad must act “transparently, immediately and on all fronts” and prosecute the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack of the past few days because, even if they are “elements outside the state,” they are still Pakistani citizens for whom Islamabad is responsible. Rice, to whom Mukherjee said she had provided all the evidence of Pakistani involvement in the matter, was thus responding to statements made by Pakistani President Ali Asif Zardari who, pilatesquely, claims that he has not yet received any definite proof of the identity of the terrorists, that he does not believe they were Pakistani at all, and that even if they were Pakistani, they are “elements outside the state” acting from within the country's borders. He added that they are enemies “of the whole world, including Pakistan” and that they should, if anything, be prosecuted by Pakistan. So are the 20 international terrorists and criminals whose extradition India is seeking, which again has been denied. If the above gentlemen were “found guilty of any crime,” it would be the task of a Pakistani court to bring them to trial. Admiral Mullen has already arrived in Pakistan, and Rice, who has sotanzially asked Delhi for patience, will also travel to Islamabad to discuss the matter. India's patience, however, is close to running out. Soon after Rice's arrival, Mumbai police found eight kilos of explosives at the Chhatrapati Shivaji station, one of the first targets of last Wednesday's attack. And ten thousand people marched today in Bombay alone demanding that the government do something. Similar marches took place in all major Indian cities. New Delhi, also taking into account the fact that general elections will be held in the spring, cannot fail to react in any way. Condoleeza Rice herself stated that “After getting (Pakistan's) response, the Indian government will take whatever measures it considers necessary to safeguard its territorial integrity, security and protect its citizens.” And although the government of Manmohan Singh claims it has no intention of resolving the matter with arms, there are already those who are talking about a possible Indian bombing, to be carried out in cooperation with the United States or a coalition of all the countries whose citizens were caught up in the incident, of terrorist training camps and bases on Pakistani soil. The situation remains increasingly tense, and tension also mounts on another border, that of China. Beijing, which is one of Pakistan's key historical allies, fears that terrorists may find refuge in the Xin-Jiang region, which is Muslim and struggling against the central government. At any rate, the borders with Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India would be sealed for the time being. 


Of face-saving and denial

The Pakistani army attacked the camp in Shawai, Pakistan. The camp, a training and gathering facility, is the main one of those used by the Lashkar-i-Toiba fundamentalist group in the area. According to leaked reports, six terrorists have been arrested, and among them would be Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, one of the main suspects in the bombings in Mumbai last Nov. 26. The action, ordered by Islamabad following strong pressure received from both the American and Indian sides, would be part of the strategy agreed in recent days with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who said she had no doubts about the involvement of “elements that do not belong to the state” of Pakistan in the Bombay events. According to analysts, however, this would be a first step toward resolving the diplomatic crisis between India and Pakistan that has often raised fears for the worst in recent days, but not a final solution. New Delhi and Condoleeza Rice would in fact have asked Islamabad for a definitive, clear and immediate commitment. A strong signal to fight against all those organizations that, although officially banned in recent years, have in fact been largely tolerated and financed by successive governments in recent years. The Lashkar-i-Toiba in particular, officially banned throughout Pakistan except in Kashmir but nevertheless still fully active throughout the country under the name Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) despite also being put on the list of international terrorist organizations by the United States. The Shawai camp attack, however, risks being, as has been the case in Pakistan for many years now, a pure image operation. It remains to be seen, in fact, if and when Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi will be tried and if and for how long he will be imprisoned. President Zardari has in fact already declared that all those arrested will be tried in Pakistan and not handed over to India. It remains to be seen, and according to many it is highly unlikely, whether the operations will continue and go through with it. And, finally, whether India will be satisfied. Indeed, in recent days there had been persistent rumors of a possible Indian attack against the main training camps on Pakistani territory. Sources close to the Indian government maintain and have always maintained that India would have no intention of triggering a potentially devastating conflict for all parties involved, but doubts continue to remain. Over the past 48 hours, very high-level summits have taken place in Islamabad between Zardari, PM Gilani, army and intelligence chiefs. And tension, despite the accomplished operation in Kashmir, still remains, to put it mildly, at the highest level. 


And then comes Headley...

If ‘The Hadley Case’ were a spy novel, its plot would be dismissed as too far fetched to be true. In fact, the case was not only all too real, but created an explosive situation in relations between the United States and India when it came to light.

David Coleman Headley, an American citizen with a Pakistani father was arrested by the FBI in October of 2009, accused of contributing to the planning of the attack in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 and of plotting an attack on the offices of the Danish newspaper that published the famous cartoons of the prophet Mohammed. Arrested along with him was Tahawwur Hussein Rana, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin who, like Headley, lived and worked in Chicago. David Headley, whose name was Daood Gilani until 2006, officially visited Pakistan and India often as an employee of the First World Immigration Service, a firm owned by Rana. Gilani-Headley is said to have joined Lashkar-i-Toiba in 2005 and had very close links also to Ilyat Kashmiri, formerly with the special corps of the Pakistani army and at the time head of 313 Brigade, a branch of the terrorist organisation run by Harkat-ul-Jihadi-al Islam and closely connected to Al Qaida. According to the charges, Headley travelled to India nine times; eight visits were before November 26, 2008, and one in March of 2009. He visited all the sites in Mumbai, where the synchronised attacks later took place, using as his base the house of a certain Rahul. Speculation mounted in the Indian press on the identity of this Rahul: some even thought it might be Rahul Gandhi, the son of Sonia, and a future prime minister of India in the eyes of many. The name of Sharukh Khan, Bollywood’s most famous and powerful actor of the day, came up, since he often played characters named Rahul. In fact, this mysterious Rahul did have a lot to do, indirectly, with Bollywood. It was Rahul Bhatt, son of Mahesh, widely known and celebrated producer and director in Mumbai’s cinema world. A number of disturbing details about Daood Gilani, alias Headley, began to emerge: the man was a half brother of someone employed in the Pakistani prime minister’s public relations office. It all became more complicated when Rahul Bhatt revealed that Gilani-Headley had boasted often of being an undercover agent for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and had spoken in great detail about Delta Force and its Special Activities division, whose task was to carry out political and paramilitary tasks. Both the American and the Indian press disclosed furthermore that Daood Gilani, as he was then known, was arrested for drug trafficking in 1998. His sentence was reduced to less than two years as he collaborated with investigators, and he then was taken on by the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) and embedded in Pakistan to conduct undercover operations. After September 11, it is said the CIA may have used his services too, having him infiltrate the LIT to obtain information. Headley was, essentially, an American secret service agent who was playing a double, or even a triple game.

Washington rushed to deny the news, but no one believed their refutation, least of all the press, politicians, intelligence services or the Indian police, who all went wild. Adding to the furore was the suspicion that the FBI had purposely avoided informing New Delhi of Headley’s journey to India March 2009, fearing that the alleged terrorist might be arrested and interrogated by the Indian secret services. It was also suspected that the FBI was again negotiating with Headley about exchanging information on the LIT for a reduction in his sentence, and trying to conceal the latter’s links with the intelligence services. What is certain is that Headley refused to be questioned by Indian investigators while the CIA continued to deny any link with the terrorist, but refused to issue further comment. The alleged secret agent on trial in Chicago began to talk, saying that he had contact with highly ranked officers in the Pakistani army, ‘both in and out of active service’, who were involved in giving operational and logistical support to the Lashkar-i-Toiba in planning and organising the Mumbai attack. Indeed, Headley, by his own account, had been present in the Pakistani control room from which tactical orders were given by cell phone to the terrorists barricaded in various buildings in Mumbai. Once the trial was over, a thick blanket of silence shrouded the affair, while David-Daood negotiated his terms with the United States agencies.

The next episode came a few months later. It brought a risk of complicating further the already rocky relationship between the main players in the game: United States, India and Pakistan itself. For months, India had continued to accuse Washington of leaving Indian intelligence in the dark on some of the information Headley supplied and of preventing its agents from the NIA (National Intelligence Agency) from questioning the alleged terrorist directly. This issue was resolved nearly a year later when NIA agents were allowed to interrogate Headley. Doing so seemed to confirm the first statements released and enriched the story with particularly interesting details. Nothing new, in effect, but a confirmation of what the investigators and the New Delhi government had repeated for years, and Islamabad had denied for just as long. Confirmation was provided of the leadership structure of Lashkar-i-Toiba: for example the fact that masked by its humanitarian organisation, Jamaat-u-Dawa continued to operate freely in Pakistan. The Bombay massacre, Headley confirms, was planned and directed from Lahore by members of the LIT. At its head was Mohammed Hafiz Saeed. Headley had no direct contact with him during the organisation of the attack, but “he could not have not known,” because nothing happened in his organisation without Saeed being aware of it. That is not newsworthy in itself, but there were implications. Saeed had always stressed he was extraneous to the organisation. Islamabad has always refused to arrest him, let alone hand him over to India or Interpol, with the excuse of ‘insufficient evidence’ of his involvement in the Mumbai massacre and the fact of his never having committed an offence on Indian territory. After intense pressure from both India and the White House, he was placed under house arrest in 2009, but was then released following a Supreme Court of Lahore sentence: his most serious charge was having had ‘links and connections’ with Al Qaida, and according to the Supreme Court of Lahore, Al Qaida is not an illegal organisation in Pakistan. Directly below Saeed in the hierarchy was Abdur Rehman Makhi who served as ‘minister of foreign affairs’ and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the military head of the organisation, whom Headley claims was the actual organiser of the Mumbai attack. Both Makhi and Lakhvi, needless to say, can happily roam free around Pakistan and Lahore in particular. To find them one need only go to a certain mosque in the old town that is protected by armed men and, by sheer chance of course, the Pakistani police, that officially has no news of the two gentlemen. Headley revealed that the LIT, taking a leaf from the Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers’ book, is equipped with a marine military force able to reach India from Karachi, and is commanded by Yaqub. He also spoke of a cell founded in Karachi the task of which was to recruit youths from the Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. It is no secret that, every night, camel trains leave Gujarat to cross the desert to Karachi for a few hundred rupees. Another cell of the operation was founded in Thailand, where Abu Anas was sent in 2006. Prior to this, Anas had been head of the section in Rawalpindi, and his elevated status is reflected in the fact that he met Osama bin Laden several times and is said to have had close links to Al Qaida. What was most revealing in Headley’s account, however, was what he disclosed about the connections between members of Lashkar-i-Toiba and figures from the ISI and the Pakistani army. Saeed was actually protected by the secret services, like Lakhvi, who enjoyed a favoured relationship with the chief of the military secret services at the time, Shuja Pasha. Headley confirmed that ‘members of the Pakistani army, both in retirement and active service’ were involved in preparations for the Mumbai massacre and in the organisational structure of Lashkar-i-Toiba. Two army majors currently in service are conspicuous in his testimony: Major Iqbal and Major Sameer Ali. On the latter, a ‘red notice’ was issued by Interpol at New Delhi’s request, Another ‘red notice’ was issued on Ilyas Kashmiri. It is virtually certain, though, that neither of these two gentlemen will ever end up behind bars: as long as the secret services and the Armed Forces remain in the driving seat in Islamabad. The whole Headley affair highlights two issues that have been debated for a very long time: the true structure of power in Pakistan and the role of the secret services, the ISI in particular, in its control.