UN in advance stage to request India to head one of its two key counter-terrorism committees

India, which has joined the UN Security Council after a of gap of 19 years, is most likely to be given a key responsibility by this powerful 15-member body in fight against terrorism; thus acknowledging New Delhi's prominent role in the global war against terror.Diplomatic sources privy to the discussions at the United Nations headquarters in New York told PTI talks are in advance stage to request India to head one of its two key counter-terrorism committees.

Ahead of its joining the Security Council on January 1, in its informal consultations with its other key members, India had made its intentions clear that it wants to make the fight against terrorism a priority area during its two-year term as the non-permanent member of the council.Almost all the members of the UN Security Council, especially its five permanent members, believe that not only just being a victim of terrorism; but also as a country which has successfully and patiently tackled the menace of terrorism for the past several decades, be it the one in Punjab in the 80s, or the one in Kashmir, and the those coming from across the border and reflected in terrorists attacks like that on the Parliament or 26/11, New Delhi is best positioned to lead the counter terrorism initiatives for the next two years.The Security Council currently has two key committees related to its fight against terrorism. On October 15, 1999, the UN Security Council via its resolution number 1267 had established the "Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee" which is the form to slap sanctions on terrorist outfits and its leaders; that is implemented by its member States.

Countrywide alert on terrorism

India's Home Ministry has issued a countrywide alert after receiving intelligence of possible terrorism attacks by the Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba.Advisories have been sent to several state governments asking them to increase vigilance, said a Home Ministry official who did not want to be named.

Specific cities - including Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bangalore - and the tourist destination Goa are among the possible targets of the terrorism over the New Year weekend, .Security has been tightened in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka states.Police have launched house-to-house searches in some areas of Mumbai, the PTI news agency reported. Additional personnel have been deployed in markets, religious sites, and bus and railway stations.Terrorists have targeted both the financial hub of Mumbai and Ahmedabad, a major city in the western Indian state of Gujarat, in the past.More than 166 people were killed in November 2008 in a three-day attack on Mumbai by gunmen said to belong to Lashkar-e-Taiba.

German raids against terrorism

The German Interior Ministry ordered simultaneous raids for terrorist in three states on Tuesday against what it called Salafist networks suspected of seeking the imposition of an Islamic state. The action signaled growing concern over the radical messages of some Islamic groups.

The raids, in Bremen, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, were not linked to a recent terrorism alert reportedly inspired by phone calls from a man who said he wanted to quit working with terrorists and who warned of a pending Mumbai-style attack, the Interior Ministry said.

The ministry statement said the raids were directed at two groups: Invitation to Paradise in the cities of Brunswick and Mönchengladbach, and the Islamic Culture Center of Bremen, on the North Sea coast. The two groups work closely together and share the same ideology. The authorities are seeking to outlaw both groups.

The raids appeared to represent a departure for the German authorities in their dealings with radical terrorism. They were conducted under the authority of postwar laws enacted with an eye to the Nazis to prevent the overthrow of the state or Constitution by extremist groups. Before, those statutes had been invoked primarily against right-wing nationalist and neo-Nazi groups, and German intelligence had focused primarily on individual Muslim extremists rather than groups.

The ministry’s statement emphasized this shift in approach. “For a well-fortified democracy, it is necessary and demanded, without waiting for the jihad to occur in the form of armed struggle, to take action against anti-constitutional organizations.”

The statement said the groups were suspected of opposing constitutional order by seeking to “overthrow it in favor of an Islamic theocracy.” There was no indication that any arrests were made.

India gives new ‘terrorism’ warning to Pakistan

Indian Foreign Minister S M Krishna alleged on Wednesday that Pakistan-terrorism backed attacks in Kashmir were underpinning a “trust deficit” that was holding up efforts to improve ties between the neighbours.

He told the UN General Assembly that India shares international concerns about “the growth and consolidation of militancy and terrorism in Pakistan”The Indian minister spoke one day after his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi expressed “grave concern” to the assembly about Indian occupied Kashmir, the bitterest source of tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. Krishna said Jammu and Kashmir “is the target of such Pakistan-sponsored militancy and terrorism. “Pakistan must fulfil its solemn commitment of not allowing territory under its control to be used for terrorism directed against India,” the minister declared. “Pakistan cannot impart lessons to us on democracy and human rights,” Krishna added. “If, however, Pakistan were to live up to its commitment not to allow use of its soil by terrorists acting against India, this would significantly help reduce the trust deficit that impedes the development of better bilateral relations.” Held Kashmir has seen a new wave of protests since June 11, when a 17-year-old student was killed by a police teargas shell. Indian security forces have been accused of killing 107 people since then. Despite their new diplomatic tussle, Krishna still invited his Pakistani counterpart to attend the Commonwealth Games which open in New Delhi this weekend, saying it would give them a chance to “continue the dialogue.”

Varanasi's Sheetla ghat blast by IM

A day after the terrorist blast in Varanasi's Sheetla ghat killed a toddler and injured 37 others, the Mumbai Police said on Wednesday that Bhatkal brothers Riyaz and Iqbal – the chiefs of the Indian Mujahideen – had masterminded the explosion.

The Bhatkal brothers are in Pakistan.

Preliminary investigations have shown the actual muscle to carry on the blasts was provided by Dr Shahnawaz, the brother of IM foot soldier Mohammed Saif who was arrested in the Batla House encounter in September 19, 2008.

In that encounter, a week after the Delhi blasts, the then IM commander Atiq Amin was killed and Saif arrested.

Dr Shahnawaz, who is both in Dubai and Pakistan now, took charge thereafter. A Pakistan-trained mujahideen, Shahnawz is in regular touch with the Bhatkal brothers, sources said.

He is also involved in the Delhi, Ahmedabad and Jaipur blasts.

India should allow the pakistan to quiz 26/11 witnesses ?

India allow a Pakistani to travel here to interview key witnesses and other officials in connection with the trial of seven Pakistani suspects in 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case.

Sources said Pakistan will be informed of India's stand on the issue once the government gets the view of Bombay High Court on it, possibly next week.

India, as such, does not have any problem if a commission from Pakistan comes to take statements of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate R V Sawant Waghule and Investigating Officer Ramesh Mahale, who recorded 26/11 convict Ajmal Kasab's statement, and the doctors who carried out the post-mortem of the victims and the terrorists.

But, the sources said, it is mandatory to take the view of the High Court as the case related to 26/11 is now pending before it.

"We want the 26/11 case in Pakistan to reach its logical conclusion. We have no issues in allowing them to visit India provided the High Court gives its nod," a source said.

Special Judge M.L. Tahaliyani had convicted lone captured 26/11 terrorist Kasab to death in May, subject to confirmation of the sentence by the High Court. On the eve of the second anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, India asked Pakistan to punish those responsible.

India said 'substantive and verifiable' progress has not been made in the probe into Mumbai attacks case in Pakistan. Asking Islamabad to fulfil its 'obligation and commitment' to bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 carnage, India regretted that no feedback has been received on several issues raised by New Delhi.

This included voice samples of Pakistan-based 'handlers' of the 10 terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008 and information about seven persons involved in the attacks whose names were given by Home Minister P. Chidambaram during his meeting with his Pakistani counterpart in June in Islamabad.

The names of seven 'handlers' involved in 26/11 included that of two officers in the Pakistani Army, sources said. However, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik said last week that the trial of seven Pakistani suspects charged with involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks has been held up because of New Delhi's delay in granting permission for a commission to visit India to interview key witnesses.

Terrorisam in north east part of india

As the Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance government takes charge for the second consecutive term in New Delhi, it faces a big challenge in addressing the growing concerns of Terrorist insurgency-related violence in the troubled northeastern states of India. In order to fully understand the complexities of counterinsurgency operations in Northeast India, we need to examine the surrender policy for insurgents followed by the central government through its security forces in the region, and how much this policy has succeeded in bringing back normalcy and peace to NorthEast.

Just before elections this year, the central government announced that it would no longer accept any surrenders from the numerous insurgent organizations operating in Northeast India, and instead employ the security forces to mount operations against them on a war footing. This was decided after a review committee instituted by the central government came out with its report, and suggested that the norms for the surrender of insurgents be made more stringent and that these did have an impact on the overall insurgency situation. It now remains to be seen if the UPA government takes these suggestions seriously and implements them by revising the surrender norms.

The central government’s surrender policy in Northeast India has been flawed from the very beginning and to make things more complicated it has employed different yardsticks for different terrorist insurgent organizations, given the varying status of peace talks between them. The highest number of surrenders over the years has come from Assam and Manipur, where surrenders, peace talks and designated camps have mushroomed and occupied much of the government’s energies and resources. The government has entered into peace talks with the Naga insurgent groups for over a decade now, without any breakthrough and at the same without any respite from the violence, which arises today due to ‘peacetime’ factional fights. The peacetime operational conduct of the security forces has favoured one faction of the Naga insurgency over the other at varying points of time, and the rules in the designated camps have been very liberal.

The major failure of the surrender policy has been its inefficacy in restoring peace in the region. This has happened due to several inadequacies and loopholes in the policy as well as the manipulations that have occurred relating to the political use of the surrendered insurgents. Insurgent surrenders in recent times have shown that the amount of arms and ammunition deposited at the time of surrenders are minimal compared to their level of operations. These have been seen as token surrenders, either to dispose off the mercenary elements in their organizations, and or of elements who use this medium to avail the benefits of the surrender policy in the form of monetary compensation and lucrative contracts from the government. There have been reports of several insurgent organizations that have formed and then summarily having surrendered, to avail such governmental largesse and this is especially true in the state of Manipur.

The infamous secret killings episode in Assam, where the surrendered ultras were used by the political and security establishment to carry out killings of innocent relatives of active insurgents of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), and then subsequently eliminated after their job was done, bears testimony to the manipulations that have occurred under the existing surrender policy. The designated camps of various insurgent organizations have indeed become political instruments of manipulation by politicians and security agencies; further, they have been named consistently after blasts have occurred, without any proper investigation. This was particularly evident when the members of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) living in government-controlled designated camps were named by the Assam government as having masterminded the serial blasts in Assam late last year, without providing any substantial proof of their involvement.