The global link in Mumbai terror attack, Pak gives details

Islamabad, Feb 12 (PTI) From Italy, Spain and an unnamed
Middle East country to US and Russia, the plotters of the
Mumbai terror attack tapped local resources including dollar
payment transfers and registering internet domain names in a
sinister global plan to numb India's financial capital that
left 183 persons dead.

As Pakistan gave the first readout on its probe into
26/11 which saw cyber link coming to the fore, its Interior
Minister Rehman Malik said leads also pointed to Europe and
the United States for which he said FBI's help and
international cooperation will be sought to crack the case.

"It is not only Pakistan, but the system of the other
countries has also been used," Malik said.

Malik named other countries, where he said the plotters
had made payment transfers or where equipment used in the
attacks was registered. For example, he said, 238 dollars was
transferred from Spain to acquire a domain name -- used for
communication over the Internet -- that was registered in
Houston, Texas in the US.

A Pakistani man Javed Iqbal who was living in Barcelona
was repatriated and arrested in connection with the payment,
Malik said.

Another domain name used by the attackers was registered
in Russia, and a satellite phone registered in a Middle
Eastern country, which he declined to name.

Malik said "money was paid in Italy," but it was not
immediately clear how much he was referring to or what the
money was used for.

Giving details of internet domains used by the Mumbai
plotters, Malik said they were traced to Houston in the US and
Russia.

Suspects used a digital teleconferencing system whose
service provider is based in Houston while a Thuraya phone was
issued in a "Middle Eastern country" Malik said. He did not
identify the Middle East nation.

It was also revealed that the money for the attackers
was paid in Italy and the amount came from Islamabad.

Voice Over Internet Protocol(VOIP) was purchased from
Barcelona by Javed Iqbal, who also operated three e-mail
accounts from the Spanish city, Malik said.

Payments for use of VOIP made in Spain and Italy, it was
stated.

With cyber technology being tapped by the terror
suspects to execute the plan, Malik also said that E-mail sent
purportedly by Indian Mujahideen was traced to LeY operative
Zahir Shah.

Mumbai gunmen's handlers in Pakistan had kept in touch
with them by phone during the three-day assault, according to
Indian investigators, who also monitored the worldwide traffic
of VOIP flow to find out that nearly 5,000 calls were made
across the globe at the time of the Mumbai siege. PTI GSN
DEP