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SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
Weekly Assessments & Briefings
Volume 8, No. 52, July 5, 2010

Data and assessments from SAIR can be freely published in any form with credit to the South Asia Intelligence Review of the
South Asia Terrorism Portal


ASSESSMENT


INDIA
PAKISTAN
Click for PrintPrint

LeT: Spreading Menace
Ajit Kumar Singh
Research Fellow, Institute for Conflict Management

The Pakistani American Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative David Coleman Headley reportedly disclosed to his National Investigation Agency (NIA) interrogators that the LeT continued to actively execute surveys of major targets in India. These surveys were principally carried out by visiting agents and not by activating sleeper cells. According to Headley, at least 100 targets in India had been identified, listed, surveyed and photographed by different LeT agents. Headley, who was one of such agents, said he was not aware of the identities and nationalities of the others, as his Pakistani ‘handlers’ were careful not to reveal details. He further indicated that he had videographed and photographed some 30 targets in several Indian cities. These included the targets of the November 26, 2008, (also known as 26/11) terrorist attacks in Mumbai (Maharashtra), for which he had conducted detailed surveys during his nine visits to India between 2006 and 2008.

The NIA team had interrogated Headley over seven days [June 3-10] in what the US described as unrestricted "direct access", as part of the cooperation and partnership between the US and India in the fight against international terrorism. Headley, who had changed his given name of Daood Gilani in 2006 to scout targets in Mumbai, had pleaded guilty on March 18, 2010, in a Chicago Court, to 12 Federal terrorism charges. He admitted that he participated in planning the 26/11 terrorist attacks, as well as later planning to attack a Danish newspaper.

Headley’s disclosures corroborate the constant warnings by both the Indian as well as foreign intelligence agencies of impending LeT attacks in India. Intelligence reports in the recent past have indicated that the LeT was planning to abduct key political leaders, target helicopters carrying VIPs, strike public functions with explosives-laden trucks, hire or hijack aircraft or helicopters to carry out 9/11-type attacks, target scientists working in sensitive areas such as defence and space, among several other plots. The LeT’s high profile targets include the National Defence Academy in Khadagwasla (Maharashtra), the National Defence College, Delhi, defence establishments in Pune (Maharashtra), and multinational corporation Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu’s HITEC City offices in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh). On June 28, 2010, Indian intelligence officials have intercepted phone conversations between LeT ‘commanders’, which established that the group was planning fresh attacks at landmarks in different cities, including Srinagar, Jammu, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. The conversations also discussed a strike against top politicians. Further, on June 30, intelligence agencies warned that Indian missions in Bangladesh and Nepal were under threat of a possible joint attack by the LeT and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI). Earlier, on April 7, the Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College warned that India’s transportation, economic infrastructure and political establishment were on the LeT’s radar.

These threats have already materialized in the first major Islamist terrorist attack, outside Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), after the 26/11 carnage, in the German Bakery bomb blast in Pune’s Koregaon Park, near the Osho Ashram, on February 13, 2010, in which nine persons, including four foreigners, were killed and over 40 were injured. The attack came just days after an open threat by the LeT. Addressing a rally in Islamabad (Pakistan) on February 5, Abdur Rehman Makki, ‘deputy’ to Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, declared that, while the jihadis were earlier interested only in the liberation of Kashmir, the water issue had now ensured that "Delhi, Pune and Kanpur" were all fair targets.

Top LeT leaders Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Yousuf Muzammil, Ahmad Bhai and Zarar Shah are currently in custody on charges of involvement in the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, and have been replaced by new ‘commanders’ to step up terrorist operations in J&K and other parts of India. According to intelligence sources, these new ‘commanders’ include Raza Ahmed aka Shahji aka Abu Anas of Bahawalpur in the Punjab province of Pakistan, who had earlier operated as the ‘divisional commander’ for North Kashmir for almost a decade, before he was called back to Pakistan; Hyder Bhai aka Bilal aka Salahuddin, known for several fidayeen (suicide squad) attacks in J&K; Abdul Gaffar aka Huzefa aka Khalid, who was earlier active in Gandarbal in Central Kashmir; and Walid, who had been active in Lolab in North Kashmir. According to sources, the initial focus of the four new ‘commanders’, all of whom are Pakistani nationals, was the Kashmir Valley and the Doda-Rajouri-Poonch belt in Jammu, besides metropolitan and other major cities of India.

The LeT’s current objectives, described in a poster at a March 23, 2010, rally, in slogans superimposed over an image of the burning Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, are to "free Kashmir, Pakistan's lifeline, from the enemy"; work for the "freedom of the Muslims of Gujarat, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and the rest of India" ; and to "save Pakistan's parched rivers." Maps posted on the JuD’s Facebook page provide a graphic illustration of its ambitions. One map of India is emblazoned with Pakistan’s crescent moon and star symbol and JuD flag flying on the Red Fort in New Delhi. In another, much of northern, north-eastern and central India are referred to as Pakistan. Nepal, Bangladesh and south India are marked "disputed territories." The page also carries a facsimile of a Hadith — sayings attributed to Prophet Muhammad — which purports to provide scriptural legitimacy to the JuD’s jihad. "A King of the House of the Pious," it prophesies, "will send a Lashkar [army] towards India. The mujahideen (holy warriors) will plunder the land of India, take over its treasures, and the King will use these treasures to honour the House of the Pious... The mujahideen of this Lashkar will conquer all territory between the east and west and will establish the Kingdom of the Pious."

The Facebook page also confirms LeT’s close links with al-Qaeda, and contains several images of al-Qaeda chief Osama-bin-Laden. There is a low-resolution image of an individual, apparently Saeed, seated next to bin Laden. Such linkages are confirmed by US Defence Department report that states that the LeT has a "close relationship" with al Qaeda. Indian intelligence sources also indicate that a tie-up between the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and LeT, for attacks aimed at India, has been established. India’s Home Minister, P. Chidambaram, disclosed, further, that LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen (JuM) and the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) were earlier operating separately, but had now come together. The LeT has also linked up with the Indian Mujahedeen [IM], which is regarded as a potential resource base that the LeT hopes to use for identification and reconnaissance of targets and arranging logistics for terror attacks.

Despite purported ‘restrictions’ placed on it in Pakistan, the LeT remains flush with funds, collecting generous donations from the overseas Pakistani community in the Persian Gulf and the United Kingdom, Islamic non-Governmental organisations, Pakistani/Kashmiri business people and through its parent organisation JuD. The terrorist group also counts on donations from sympathetic Saudis, Kuwaitis, and Islamist-leaning Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) officers. The US Defence Department report indicated, further, that, "In addition, LeT maintains relations with extremist and/ or terrorist groups across the globe ranging from the Philippines to the Middle East and Chechnya by means of the JuD network."

While much of state support to the LeT is covert, it is significant that the Government of Pakistan's Punjab Province, gave about USD one million to institutions linked with the JuD, in 2009. "At least 80 million rupees [$940,000] have been allocated for the institutions [linked to Jamaat-ud-Dawa] during the current fiscal year," Rana Sanaullah, a senior Punjab Minister told the BBC. However, he maintained that the institutions – which include two schools and a hospital – were no longer attached to JuD. When asked why the Punjab Government had allotted money in the budget for institutions it managed, a spokesman for JuD, Hafiz Abdur Rehman, responded: "The truth is that we are ourselves astonished at this."

Meanwhile, despite it losing a total of 142 of its cadres, including top ‘commanders’, who have been killed by the Security Forces since 26/11, the LeT appears to have more of a say in the Kashmir Valley, including in the wave of what is being described as "agitational terrorism". India has blamed separatist elements linked to the LeT for stoking unrest in the Kashmir Valley. Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram thus remarked, on June 30, "Anti-national elements are clearly linked to the LeT. We know that the Lashkar has been active in Sopore." Since the latter half of June 2010, major parts of Kashmir have repeatedly erupted in violent demonstrations, and a total of 11 ‘protesters’ have already died in Police firing.

The Lashkar has created a significant base in South India as well. Reports indicate that LeT has two support groups in Kerala, and four Malayali (Keralite) LeT militants were killed in J&K on October 6, 2008. On Jun 21, 2010, Kerala Police sources claimed that many boys from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala, between the ages of 16 and 25, were being trained in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) under the supervision of LeT ‘commanders’.

The LeT is also using its operatives in Bangladesh and Nepal to try set up a ‘buffer zone’ in interior areas of Bihar to carry out terror attacks both within the State and elsewhere in the country, top intelligence sources said. Mohammad Omar Madni, a close aide of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and the LeT’s point man in Nepal told interrogators he had already recruited men in Katihar, Madhubani, Siwan, Bhagalpur, Gopalganj, Motihari, Betia and Muzzaffarpur Districts of Bihar for LeT’s hawala operations, fake currency syndicates and drug-running. Madni, was arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police near Qutb Minar in South Delhi on June 4, 2009. He reportedly disclosed that he had infiltrated into India on a ‘talent hunt’. Madni was one among at least 18 LeT cadres arrested in India, outside J&K, since 26/11 (another 63 were arrested in J&K), blunting the outfits operations in the country. One such arrest included the ‘south India commander’ of the LeT, identified as Shaik Abdul Khaja alias Amjad from Afzalgunj area of Hyderabad, on January 18, 2010. 24 ISI agents, with close ties to the LeT, have also been arrested in India since 26/11.

While the IM suffered a major reverse with the arrest of its senior cadres and elimination of others, including Atif Amin who was killed in the Batla House shootout on September 19, 2008, agencies feel that major leaders still at large – estimated to be over 20 – remain a threat and are crucial to the execution of the ‘Karachi Project’. The ‘Karachi Project’ is a ‘joint venture’ of the ISI and LeT, and involves serving and retired officers of the Pakistan Army and fugitive terrorists from India. The ‘project’, first revealed by Headley to his FBI interrogators, was designed to use Indians for setting off terror attacks in India. Headley indicated that five or six serving Pakistani officers were involved in the ‘Karachi Project’.  Meanwhile, on June 5, 2010, the Union Government declared the IM a terrorist outfit.

The LeT has now attacked Indian targets in Afghanistan as well. Though LeT’s global presence is now widely acknowledged, the ISI had not previously used the group to target Indian establishments beyond Indian soil. The LeT’s expansion into Afghanistan is believed to be directed against both international and Indian targets. A senior NATO intelligence official was quoted by The Times as saying , "The LeT is now active in six to eight provinces in Afghanistan, a big leap from hardly any presence five years ago." Shaida Abdali, Afghanistan's deputy national security adviser referred to this more obliquely, stating, "Our concern is that there are still players involved that are trying to use Afghanistan's ground as a place for a proxy war. It is being carried out by certain state actors to fight their opponents." Several satellite phone conversations intercepted by Indian agencies in the past few months indicate that LeT is now deeply entrenched in Pakistani efforts to force India out of Afghanistan. The location of the satellite phone in most of these conversations was established in areas adjoining the Kunar province along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Kunar is where LeT was first formed in the early 1990s. One such conversation, intercepted in the first week of February 2010 by the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), had terrorists talking about the need to hurt India in Kabul. Meanwhile, LeT’s expansion in Afghanistan has prompted suspicions in Washington that it is part of Pakistan’s game plan to have proxy forces at hand when US troops begin their withdrawal in July 2011.

Significantly, India’s Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken told Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) on April 27, 2010, that the LeT was also making concerted efforts to develop links in the Maldives and other neighbouring countries. Similarly, Admiral Robert Willard, Commander of the US Pacific Command in his testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 27, 2010, stated that the LeT, predominately a threat to India, was fast expanding operations to other South Asian countries, including Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. On similar lines, US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, P. J. Crowley, asserted on April 23, 2010, "It (LeT) is a threat to our citizens. It's a threat to Indian citizens. Next door, it's a threat to Pakistani citizens. And next door, it's a threat to Afghan citizens." A March 15, 2010, report had claimed that the LeT had identified as many as 320 targets across the globe, just 20 of which were in India. At a Congressional hearing, US Congressman Gary Ackerman testified: "In the wake of the (26/11) Mumbai attack, investigators uncovered in controller records and e-mail accounts a list of 320 locations worldwide deemed by the LeT as possible targets for attack. Only 20 of the targets were located within India."

It is significant that the LeT has been banned in the UK since March 1, 2001. The US Department of State named the LeT as a foreign terrorist organisation on December 26, 2001. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) listed it as a terrorist organisation on May 2, 2005. The US Department of Treasury named four of its leaders — Amir Hafiz Mohammed Saeed; Operations Commander Zaki-ur Rahman Lakhvi; Chief of Finance Haji Mohammad Ashraf; and fund collector Mahmoud Mohammad Ahmed Bahaziq — under Executive Order 13224 which targets terrorists and those providing financial, technological or material support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. Finally, in the aftermath of 26/11, the UNSC proscribed the JuD on December 10, 2008, listing it as an alias of the LeT, and designated Saeed, Lakhvi, Ashraf and Bahaziq as foreign terrorists.

None of these measures has had any impact on the Pakistani Government’s attitude towards LeT. Despite volumes of evidence provided by India, progressive verification from a multiplicity of international sources, and Pakistan’s own admission of LeT’s involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Islamabad continues to support and protect its terrorist proxy, giving it full freedom of movement across Pakistan. On February 4, 2010, the JuD and the Hizb-ul-Mujahiddeen (HM), held a Yakjaiti-e-Kashmir (Kashmir Solidarity) conference in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) capital Muzaffarabad, led by Syed Salahuddin, the chief of HM and chairman of the 16-party United Jihad Council (UJC). Another JuD rally, led by Hafiz Saeed, was organised at Lahore on February 5, 2010. Each of these was a well attended mass rally, widely covered by the national and international media. State agencies made no effort to curtail the activities of these groups, despite the fact that several members of the UJC are designated international terrorist organisations.

Unsurprisingly, an April 16, 2010, UN report confirmed that the ISI continued to have close links with LeT and had used the terror group's services to foment anti-India passion in Kashmir and elsewhere. "The Pakistani military organised and supported the Taliban to take control of Afghanistan in 1996. Similar tactics were used in Kashmir against India after 1989," the report noted.

It is evident that LeT remains Pakistan’s principal instrumentality in India. More significantly, its imprint is being steadily and systematically extended to wider theatres across the South Asian neighbourhood, to serve Pakistan’s augmenting ambitions in anticipation of a Western withdrawal from Afghanistan. US dependence on Pakistani ‘cooperation’ in the ‘war on terror’ has conferred near-complete impunity on Pakistani mischief in this region, and it is within the ambit of this latitude that Islamist extremist terrorism continues to thrive in Pakistan, to be exported into the neighbourhood and beyond.


NEWS BRIEFS

Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
June 28 - July 4, 2010

 

Civilians

Security Force Personnel

Terrorists/Insurgents

Total

BANGLADESH

 

Left Wing Extremism

0
0
1
1

INDIA

 

Assam

0
0
2
2

Jammu and Kashmir

0
5
12
17

Left-wing Extremism

 

Andhra Pradesh

0
0
2
2

Bihar

1
0
1
2

Chhattisgarh

9
27
3
39

Jharkhand

4
0
0
4

Orissa

2
0
0
2

West Bengal

3
0
3
6

Total (INDIA)

19
32
23
74

NEPAL

1
0
0
1

PAKISTAN

 

Balochistan

11
2
0
13

FATA

1
8
143
152

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

3
3
0
6

Sindh

5
2
1
8

Total (PAKISTAN)

64
15
146
225
Provisional data compiled from English language media sources.


BANGLADESH

365 JeI-ICS cadres arrested across country in three days: The Law Enforcers arrested 365 Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI)-Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) cadres from across the country on June 29-July 1, sources at the Police headquarters said. Of them, 121 were arrested on June 29, 128 on June 30 and 116 till 3:00 pm on July 1. Daily Star, July 2, 2010.


INDIA

27 CRPF personnel and three Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh: 27 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and three Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres were killed in an ambush by the Maoists near a hilly stretch, known as the Jhadha Ghati (valley), three kilometres from Dhudhai in Narayanpur District on June 29. Chhattisgarh Director General of Police Viswa Ranjan said on June 30 that around 15 Maoists may have been killed in the encounter that followed the ambush, but their bodies were not recovered. On July 1, the Maoists admitted that that they had lost three men of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) – ‘platoon commanders’ Bandu and Shankar, and ‘section commander’ Ramesh. Hindustan Times ; The Hindu, June 30-July 1, 2010.

Maoist politburo member and central committee leader Azad killed in Andhra Pradesh: A member of the politburo and central committee of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad, was killed in a gunfight with the Police near Jogapur in the Adilabad District on July 2. Another Maoist cadre, later identified as Uttarakhand zonal committee member Hem Pandey, was also killed. Police recovered an AK-47 rifle, a 9mm pistol and two kit bags from the site of the encounter. Azad, who carried a reward of INR 1.2 million on his head, was also the spokesperson of the CPI-Maoist. Hailing from the Krishna District, he was associated with the Maoist movement for four decades. Times of India, July 2-4, 2010.

Black Widow leader arrested near Nepal border: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Niranjan Hojai, the self-styled ‘Commander-in-Chief’ of Black Widow (BW), near the India-Nepal border, an unnamed senior official of the Assam Police said in Guwahati on July 3. Niranjan Hojai had gone missing from a camp set up by the Assam Government in the District, where Hojai and cadres of the BW were required to stay under the Suspension of Operations agreement signed by the outfit with the Government. The Hindu, July 4, 2010.

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram hands over seven names to Pakistani officials in 26/11 case: Government officials said that Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram had handed over a list of seven Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operatives and handlers involved in 26/11, against whom no action had been taken so far, to Pakistan. The seven operatives were identified as Sajjid Mir, Abdul Rehman, Pasha, Brigadier Riyaz, Abu Khafa, Al Kama and Abu Hamza. Hindustan Times, June 30, 2010.

Anti-national elements clearly linked to LeT involved in trouble in Jammu and Kashmir, says Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram: India blamed the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) for stoking unrest in the Kashmir Valley, adding to the role of Pakistan-backed militant groups that have been largely linked to infiltration across the Line of Control (LoC). Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said on June 30, "Anti-national elements are clearly linked to the LeT. We know that the Lashkar has been active in Sopore." He pointed to an encounter on June 25 where two LeT militants were killed in Sopore. Since June 11, eleven ‘protesters’ have lost their lives in the valley. In the same period, 53 Central Reserve Police Force personnel have been injured, many of them seriously. The Hindu, July 1, 2010.

550 more mobile towers to boost fight against Naxalites: The Union Government has started work on installing over 550 new mobile towers to boost communication facilities in the Naxal (Left Wing Extremism)-affected Districts in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Bihar. The Hindu, June 30, 2010.

Government plans to redeploy central forces in anti-Naxal operations: In the wake of repeated attacks by the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Government is working out a plan for the redeployment of paramilitary forces engaged in anti-Naxal [Left Wing Extremist] operations in States. However, no central forces deployed in a particular State will be moved out from that State. PTI News, July 2, 2010.

Indian embassies in Bangladesh and Nepal under terror threat, warn intelligence agencies: Indian missions in Bangladesh and Nepal are under threat of a possible terror attack from Pakistani terrorist outfits, according to intelligence reports. The alert suggests the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) and the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) are planning to attack Indians working on different projects in Bangladesh and could try and create a hostage like situation. A similar threat also looms over the Indian mission in Kathmandu, Nepal. Times Now, July 2, 2010.

Cease-fire agreement with ANVC extended in Meghalaya: The Union Government extended the tripartite cease-fire agreement with the Achik National Volunteer Council (ANVC) for another three months.. Shillong Times, July 1, 2010.


NEPAL

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal resigns: Prime Minister (PM) Madhav Kumar Nepal tendered his resignation before President Ram Baran Yadav in the evening of June 30,. Earlier, in the day, saying that he no longer wishes to see the country remain "hostage to indecision", PM Nepal had announced his resignation through a televised message to the nation. After making the announcement, PM Nepal said he hoped his resignation will mark an end to the longstanding political deadlock and all other problems facing the country, as the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-Maoist) have been saying. Meanwhile, the UCPN-Maoist hailed the resignation of the Prime Minister saying that it had paved the way for political consensus to end the political deadlock in the country. Nepal News, July 1, 2010.


PAKISTAN

143 militants and eight SFs among 152 persons killed during the week in FATA: At least 12 Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants were killed when fighter jets pounded their hideouts in the Orakzai Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on July 4.

At least 10 TTP militants were killed in clashes with Security Forces (SFs) in Orakzai Agency of FATA on July 3. Four soldiers were killed and seven others sustained injuries when an IED hit a SFvehicle in Gurguri area in Bara tehsil (revenue unit) of Khyber Agency.

SFs killed 15 TTP militants during an operation in Akakhel area of Bara tehsil in Khyber Agency FATA on July 2.

10 militants were killed and six others sustained injuries when two groups of militants traded heavy fire in Neka Ziarat area in the central parts of Kurram Agency in FATA on July 1.

Fighter jets pounded TTP hideouts in various areas of Upper Orakzai Agency, killing 20 militants and injuring 15 others on June 30.

A US drone fired two missiles on a compound used by the Punjab chapter of the TTP near Wana in South Waziristan on June 29, killing at least ten militants, including an al Qaeda foreign fighter.

At least 66 TTP militants were killed and another 30 injured in air strikes and clashes with the SFs across the country’ northwest on June 27. In Orakzai Agency, the SFs said they had killed at least 63 TTP militants in the preceding 24 hours. The sources said, around 15 TTP militants were killed and another six injured in a clash with the SFs in the Agency’s Dabori area. Three soldiers were critically injured in the clash. In addition, eight TTP militants were killed and another 24 injured in a clash with the SFs in the Bakar Ghari area of Upper Orakzai. Also, the sources added that fighter jets attacked a makeshift TTP-run hospital in Upper Orakzai late on June 27, killing 40 TTP militants under treatment at the facility. In Khar, four troopers were killed when TTP militants ambushed an Army patrol in Bajaur Agency. Dawn; Daily Times; The News, June 29-July 04, 2010.

44 civilians among 46 persons killed during the week in Punjab: At least 44 persons were killed and 175 others injured when three suicide attackers blew themselves up inside the shrine of Lahore’s patron saint, Syed Ali Hajwairi, popularly known as Data Gunj Bakhsh, at about 11 pm (PST) in the night of July 1. Daily Times, June 29-July 4, 2010.


SRI LANKA

Only the will of people resolve conflicts, not external intervention’, says President Mahinda Rajapakse: Only the will and dedication of the people will resolve the internal conflicts in a country and foreign military intervention to an internal conflict is not a solution, President Mahinda Rajapakse said on July 1. Addressing the Ukrainian National Defence Academy during his official visit to Ukraine, President Rajapakse pointed out, "Foreign military intervention to an internal conflict is not a solution. As the people do not expect the intervention of foreign forces to solve a problem, they will not receive the support of the people. The world can learn this from the Sri Lankan experience." Colombo Page, July 2, 2010.

No plan to install KP as Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister, says Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse: Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse has denied reports in a section of the media that the Government is planning to install the former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) international wing leader Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP, who is under detention, as the Chief Minister (CM) of the Northern Province. He, however, confirmed that the Government was working with KP in a "strategic manner" to mobilise the support of the Tamil Diaspora. Earlier, former Army Commander and Democratic National Alliance (DNA) parliamentarian General (retired) Sarath Fonseka, on July 2, said the Government was planning to get KP to contest the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) election. General Fonseka told Parliament that the Government had allowed KP to meet with Government Agents and other officials in the North. The Hindu, July 5, 2010.

Arrested LTTE leader Kumaran Pathmanathan helping Government in 'reconciliation process', says Tamil Diaspora leader Charles Antonidas: The arrested leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is playing a 'leading role' in helping the Government in 'reconciliation process' after the end of the war, a representative of the Tamil Diaspora, Charles Antonidas, said. Antonidas, leader of Tamil Health Organisation (THO), said that Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP, was instrumental in arranging a meeting between the Tamil Diaspora and the Sri Lankan Government. BBC News, June 30, 2010.

TNA to register as political party: The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has handed in an application on June 30 to Sri Lanka's Elections Commissioner to register it as a political party,. TNA parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran said that the leader of the TNA party has been named as parliamentarian R. Samapanthan and the joint secretaries of the party would be parliamentarians Mavai Senathirajah, Suresh Premachandran and Selvam Adaikalanadan. Although the party functioned as the TNA the registered political party was known as the Illankai Thamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK). Colombo Page, July 1, 2010.

The South Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR) is a weekly service that brings you regular data, assessments and news briefs on terrorism, insurgencies and sub-conventional warfare, on counter-terrorism responses and policies, as well as on related economic, political, and social issues, in the South Asian region.

SAIR is a project of the Institute for Conflict Management and the South Asia Terrorism Portal.

South Asia Intelligence Review [SAIR]

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Editor
Dr. Ajai Sahni


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