THIRUVANANTHAPURAM — India's home minister Wednesday said a key suspect in the 2008 Mumbai attacks had provided information confirming Pakistani “state support” for the deadly assault. Abu Hamza, also known as Sayed Zabiuddin, an Indian-born member of the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, was detained at Delhi international airport on June 21 when he arrived from the Middle East. Indian police believe he was one of the handlers based in the Pakistani city Karachi, who issued orders by telephone to 10 Islamist gunmen as they stormed two luxury hotels, a Jewish centre, a restaurant and a train station in Mumbai. The November 2008 attacks, which India has blamed on Lashkar-e-Taiba, left 166 people dead and more than 300 wounded. Home Minister P. Chidambaram, speaking to reporters in the southern state of Kerala, said police interrogation of Hamza had confirmed Indian accusations that Pakistani state actors were also involved. “The argument that non-state actors were behind the massacre is no longer valid. He has confirmed that he was in the control room (and) this has confirmed our suspicion that there was some organised effort,” Chidambaram said. Meanwhile, Pakistan government has categorically rejected India's charge that it provided full support to the terrorists. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik said, “We reject the allegations levelled by the Indian government based on the submissions made by a suspected LeT operative Abu Jundal arrested recently in connection with the 26/11 attacks case.” — Agencies
