Mumbai terror attacks similar to 1993 New York Landmarks plot

Snehesh Alex Philip

New Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) The meticulous planning and
execution of the Mumbai terror attack, which has left the
country's security agencies scurrying for cover, might not be
as original as it is presumed to be, because of its eerie
resemblance to the 1993 New York Landmarks Plot, hatched by
Al-Qaeda.

When compared to an Osama bin Laden's then-relatively new
terror group's plot to target prominent hotels and landmarks
in Manhattan that was uncovered 15 years ago, the audacious
last week's attack looks like a re-play of the same.

According to US-based private Intelligence company,
Stratfor, in July 1993, US counter-terrorism agents had
arrested eight individuals later convicted of plotting an
elaborate, multi-stage attack on key sites in Manhattan.

"The militants, who were linked to Osama bin Laden's
then-relatively new group al Qaeda, planned to storm the
island armed with automatic rifles, grenades and improvised
explosive devices (IEDs).

In multiple raids on key targets combined with
diversionary attacks, they aimed to kill as many people as
possible," the firm's latest report on Mumbai terror attack
said.

The planned attack, which came to be known as the
Landmarks Plot, called for several tactical teams to raid
sites such as the Waldorf-Astoria, St. Regis and UN Plaza
hotels, the Lincoln and Holland tunnels and a midtown
Manhattan waterfront heliport servicing business executives
and VIPs travelling from lower Manhattan to various New
York-area airports.

The militants carried out extensive surveillance both
inside and outside the target hotels using human probes,
hand-drawn maps and video surveillance. "Detailed notes were
taken on the layout and design of the buildings, it
stairwells, ballrooms, security cameras and personnel all
reconnoitered," the report said.

It said the attackers intended to infiltrate the hotels
and disguise themselves as kitchen employees.

"One attack team planned to use stolen delivery vans to
get close to the hotels, at which point heavily armed,
small-cell commando teams would deploy from the rear of the
van.

Stationary operatives would use hand grenades to create
diversions while attack teams would rake hotel guests with
automatic weapons. The attackers planned to carry gas masks
and use tear gas in hotel ballrooms to gain an advantage over
any security they might come up against. They planned to
attack at night, when the level of protection would be lower,"
it said.

The targeted hotels, the report said, hosted some of the
most prestigious guests in Manhattan, like in the case of the
hotels targeted in Mumbai.

"These could have included diplomats like the US
Ambassador to the United Nations, who traditionally keeps an
apartment in the Waldorf-Astoria, or even the US Secretary of
State, who is known to stay at the Waldorf during UN Sessions.
They also host various business leaders.

If successful, the attackers doubtless would have killed
many high-profile individuals key to New York's stature as a
center for financial and diplomatic dealings," it said.

Stratfor said at the time, US counter-terrorism officials
deemed that the attack would have had a 90 percent success
rate. Disaster, then, was averted when federal agents captured
the plotters planning the Landmarks attack, thanks to an
informant who had infiltrated the group, it said.

The intelligence firm said that Mumbai terror attacks
closely followed the script of the New York plot.

"The similarities between the Landmarks plot and the
November 26 Mumbai attacks are quite obvious. In symbolic
terms, as the Mumbai attacks unfolded, many onlookers said
that an attack on Mumbai is to India what an attack on New
York is to Americans.

"In more concrete terms, the targets, methods, weapons
and geography involved were similar (if not identical), and
the unconventional style of the attacks points to a common
author," it said.

Outlining that Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups are
known to return to past targets and plot scenarios, the
private intelligence company says that the Mumbai attack had
al Qaeda brand written over it.

The country's counter-terrorism forces had then detained
Landmarks plot mastermind Ramzi Yousef in 1995, who remains
in US federal prison.

Listing out the similarities in the method and targets
and surveillance carried out in both New York plot and Mumbai
terror attacks, Stratfor said the similarities suggested that
Ramzi Yousef and other early al Qaeda operatives who helped
prepare the Landmarks plot in New York authored the Mumbai
plan.

"Considering that the militants launched their original
attack from Karachi, Pakistan, and the previous involvement of
Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, which has
connections with al Qaeda leaders in western Pakistan, it is
very likely that al Qaeda in Pakistan at least provided the
blueprints for this attack.

It also added, "Ultimately, the biggest difference
between the Landmarks plot and the Mumbai attacks is that the
Mumbai attacks succeeded. The failure of the Landmarks plot
probably provided key lessons to the planners of the Mumbai
attacks, who were able to carry out the stages of the attack
without detection and with the full element of surprise."