Mumbai: new evidence points to Pakistani agents

As the war of words between India and Pakistan grows shriller and a worried America, anxious not to divert attention from its operations on the Afghan border, tries to calm both sides, the question remains in US and Indian minds, at least: to what extent was Pakistan, or rather its rogue military intelligence agency, the ISI, involved in the terrorist attack on Mumbai and how much did the Pakistani government know about the plot?

A report emerging from Pakistan this week, that appears to have been corroborated in part by Ajmal Kasav, the sole surviving terrorist, claims that the terrorists were trained by Zakiur Rahman, commander-in-chief of the radical Islamic group Lashkar e Taiba, under the aegis of a junior ISI major.

However, the report goes on to say that the original target of the operation - said to be conceived by General

Ashfaq Kiani, as head of the ISI, and continued after his promotion to army chief - was not Mumbai, but Indian Kashmir.

The few dozen Lashkar militants in training were to be ferried there from Karachi via the Indian state of Gujarat, as part of the ISI's continued, minimal support to Kashmiri jihadis, some 500 of whom still infiltrate Indian Kashmir each year.

Two months ago, following a major reshuffle within the ISI and increased focus on the tribal areas, the operation was officially retired. But for reasons that are not yet clear, it was apparently continued under the ISI major, possibly working independently, and Rahman.

According to Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad, who uncovered details of the plan, the operation was then taken over by the Harkat-ul-Jihad, a Pakistani and former Bangladeshi militant movement now working with al-Qaeda groups on