Key Mumbai Plotter Arrested in Saudi Arabia - the Long War Journal
A key suspect in the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari, was arrested in Saudi Arabia earlier this month and then turned over to Indian authorities.
Also known as Abu Jundal and Abu Hamza, Ansari has reportedly made significant admissions implicating members of the Pakistani army and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency in the planning of the attack. The Mumbai siege was orchestrated by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a longtime proxy of Pakistan’s military and intelligence establishment.
Ansari allegedly directed Ajmal Kasab, the lone gunman to survive the attack, and other terrorists from a control room in Karachi, Pakistan. As an Indian national, Ansari taught the attackers about Mumbai and Indian culture. Ansari was also reportedly involved in the terrorists’ training in a camp run inside Kashmir. The training was headed by Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, LeT’s military commander.
According to the Times of India, Ansari communicated with the Mumbai attackers from the Pakistani control room. Ansari’s voice was recorded by Indian authorities. He “also coached the killers to wrong-foot the Indian investigators and global community by posing as members of a fictional Indian outfit: Deccan Mujahideen.”