Seven members of the FBI are in Mumbai assessing the terrorist attacks and the American nationals killed there in last week's terrorist attacks.

The team arrived in the Indian financial capital Sunday and was involved in a daylong meeting with the Director General of Police (DGP), Mumbai Commissioner of Police and senior officials from the Crime Branch.

They are in the process of examining evidence and remnants of explosives gathered from the targeted places and the methodology used by the militants, official sources said.

However, it was not immediately clear whether the FBI has registered a case in the matter as they had done in the hijacking of Indian airlines' IC-814 plane in 1999, which carried a U.S. national.

That U.S. national was Dr. Jeanne Moore, whom I have interviewed at length. You can read more about Dr. Moore here. 

The Indian government is now asking Pakistan to turn over Masood Azhar, founder of the Army of Mohammed. Azhar was sprung from prison in exchange for Dr. Moore and other passengers on Indian Air 814. That was the last time India negotiated with terrorists.

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National Geographic has produced a documentary about the hijacking of Indian Air 814 which happened on Christmas Eve, 1999. The hijacked aircraft was flown around the Middle East, made three emergency landings and was ultimately taken to Kandahar, Afghanistan where the Taliban took control of the situation.

Passenger Rupin Katyal, who was on his honeymoon, was killed during the ordeal. Two other passengers were stabbed but survived their injuries.

The documentary is up on You Tube in five parts.

I have written previously about the hijacking here and here and have interviewed Dr. Jeanne Moore, the only American on the flight.   

India's former Foreign Affairs Chief, Jaswant Singh, calls the hijacking of Indian Air 814 a "dry run" for the terrorist attacks of 9/11. 

Singh led the negotiations with the Taliban and the Pakistani terrorists which resulted in a prisoner-for-hostage exchange. After the hijackers killed passenger Katyal, the 166 remaining passengers were swapped for convicted terrorists Omar Sheikh, Maulana Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zagar. All three men were being held in Indian prisons.

Omar Sheikh has since been sentenced to death by a Pakastani court for his role in the kidnapping and slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

The hijacking of Indian Air 814 is a key to understanding the origins of the nexus of terror between Al Qaeda, Pakistani terrorists, the Taliban and Pakistan's ISI. The collaborative efforts of these terrorist groups and their state sponsors continues today.

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In an interview published today, India's former Foreign Affairs Chief, Jaswant Singh, calls the hijacking of Indian Air 814 on December 24, 1999 a "dry run" for the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Singh led the negotiations with the Taliban and Pakistani terrorists that resulted in a prisoner-for-hostage exchange. One-hundred and sixty-six airplane passengers were swapped for convicted terrorists Omar Sheikh, Maulana Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zagar — all three of whom now have considerably more blood on their hands, including Daniel Pearl's.

I have written about Indian Air 814, interviewed Dr. Jeanne Moore — the only American hostage on board — and maintain that this hijacking is a key to understanding the origins of the nexus of terror between Al Qaeda, Pakistani terrorists, the Taliban and Pakistan's ISI.

The collaborative efforts of these terrorist groups and their state sponsors continues today and the situation is as perilous now as it was on December 23, 1999 and September 10, 2001 — as far as aviation security is concerned. Al Qaeda operative Rashid Rauf was sprung from prison last month — with the help of Pakistani police. Rauf is the alleged mastermind of the London Planes Plot of 2006. He is also related by marriage to Maulana Masood Azhar. 

From 'In Service of Emergent India': An Interview with Jaswant Singh by Susan Weinstein: 

Q: What was your strategy for dealing with the terrorists who hijacked an Indian airplane? Are there lessons for the United States in India's experience?

A: [Janswant Singh] The hijack of IC-814 [Indian Airlines Flight 814; Dec. 24, 1999] from Kathmandu finally to Kandahar in Afghanistan was a most painful episode. It was the worst possible site to deal with the situation. There was not even a telephone connection. And it was Christmas Eve. The world was celebrating, while there were 166 human beings confined in a small space in bitter cold with one toilet. You cannot have a strategy when the situation is changing by the hour. Because the Taliban controlled Kandahar, it was possibly the worst place for India to negotiate the release of its citizens. And we had intelligence saying they would blow the plane up on New Year's Eve for the year 2000, so sitting them out was not an option. They asked for $500 million and the release of 36 terrorists in captivity. Government had a responsibility to negotiate. We broke down the demands to the release of three terrorists by Dec. 31. Of course it is only later that I realized the manner in which the hijack was conducted, using an aircraft as a weapon of destruction, had an uncanny similarity to the subsequent attacks on New York's twin towers and the Pentagon. It was a kind of dry run for what was to come. I shared this view at the time with friends in the U.S. but it is partly human nature that unless you experience the danger yourself, it is difficult to heed warnings. 

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Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan, the al Qaeda operative and computer expert who is viewed by many counterterrorism experts as being a major player in al Qaeda's communication network, has been released from a Pakistani prison after three years. Pakistan's Attorney General Mahbooba Elahi would not explain why Khan had been released, only that the terrorist-turned-informant had been returned to his home in Karachi. From the Times Online:

Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan was arrested in Lahore in July 2004 but never charged. Investigations had shown that he was the key connection between Osama bin Laden’s inner circle and al-Qaeda’s operatives in Britain and the United States. He had also worked in close association with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the September 11 attacks.

Pakistani investigators said that Mr Khan had invented secret codes that enabled al-Qaeda operatives to send encrypted e-mails and messages via the internet. The information gleaned from Mr Khan’s computer after his arrest revealed al-Qaeda’s plans for terrorist attacks against Britain and top financial institutions in the US.

His interrogation helped to break down al-Qaeda’s cell in Britain and led to the arrest of Dahron Bharot, alias Eassa al-Hindi, and nine others. Bharot has recently been sentenced to 20 years jail. Among those arrested was Mr Khan’s cousin, Ahmed Babar. 

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British-born (and London School of Economics-educated) terrorist Omar Saeed Sheikh has been sitting in a Pakistani prison awaiting hanging for his role in the 2002 murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Now, Saeed Sheikh's lawyer has announced that he will be using the confession of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to support his client's appeal. 

Much has been written about Omar Saeed Sheikh. He is believed to have been a major financial operative in 9/11. He has been linked to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). He masterminded the kidnapping of three Britans and an American, in India, in 1994.

In 1999, Omar Saeed Sheikh was sprung from an Indian prison after Indian Air 814 was hijacked by five armed terrorists over Nepal. The Indian government agreed to a hostage-for-prisoner exchange. Also sprung from prison in that same negotiation was Maulana Masood Azhar, founder of Jaish-e-Mohammed (Army of Mohammed) — recently linked to both Osama Bin Laden and the London planes plot.

In September 2006, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf stated in his memoir, In the Line of Fire, that Omar Saeed Sheikh was originally a spy for England's foreign intelligence agency, MI6. Also according to Musharraf, Saeed Sheikh became a double agent. 

(photo credit: Omar Saeed Sheikh in 2000, Associated Press archive)

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Several days ago, India’s Bureau of Civil Aviation (BCAS) warned all major airports in the country to be on high hijack alert. That alert has now been further elevated, with security being doubled at major airports. Indian intelligence agencies warn of attempts by Pakistani-based terrorists to garner the release of Mohammad Afzal Guru — sentenced to death for his role in a December 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament. In that attack, nine security personnel were killed as well as five terrorists; more than 22 were injured. On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the convicted terrorist’s death sentence and counterterrorism authorities have since moved into highest gear.

The Indian government has a deadly history of negotiating with terrorists who hijack planes in order to gain prisoners’ release. In December of 1999, terrorists hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814. In that incident, three terrorists were released from Indian prisons in exchange for the lives of 155 passengers held hostage; one hostage had already been killed. In a tragic irony that should not go unnoticed, one of those terrorists released, Maulana Masood Azhar, is believed to have masterminded the very attack that Mohammad Afzal Guru has been sentenced to death for — and the reason for the recent hijacking alert.

This recent series of airport alerts are among several beginning last fall. The Economic Times (India Times) reports that in early November 2006, airports in the south were put on high alert after a note was discovered at one of the airports warning of Al-Qaeda’s plans to target airplanes. A few days later, India’s airports were again put on high alert after intelligence agencies received word from the FBI that Al-Qaeda could be targeting US-bound flights leaving the country.

From The Times of India and referring to the alert last November:

“Major airports in the country have been put on high security alert after the US intelligence agency FBI told Indian authorities that US-bound planes from India could be hijacked.

In a message, conveyed through diplomatic channels, FBI referred to an email originating from India and received in US on Saturday evening.”

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Happy New Year! All around the globe, people celebrate New Year’s Eve six billion different ways. But for American Dr. Jeanne Moore, this night — for the rest of her life — is a night to celebrate freedom. Seven New Year’s Eves ago today, Dr. Moore was released from captivity by Islamic Terrorists. It was December 31, 1999. After eight days held hostage in the belly of an airplane, Dr. Moore stepped down from Indian Air 814 and onto the chilly tarmac at Kandahar Airport in Afghanistan. Here’s what freedom looked like to her then. Those men in the pick-up trucks — sporting turbans, beards, and heavy weapons — are Taliban (photo: TerrorismFiles.org).

Jeanne Moore is a sixty-year old mother and grandmother, a psychotherapist from central California with a joyful disposition and an indomitable spirit. A little over seven years ago she was enjoying a long overdue vacation — flying from Katmandu, Nepal to New Delhi, India — when her flight was hijacked by five, armed and grenade-wielding terrorists. It was the last Christmas Eve of the twentieth century. The hijacking of Indian Air 814 was the only millennium terrorist plot that came to fruition.

The hijackers ordered the plane to be flown across the Middle East while they stabbed non-compliant passengers and hunted for jet fuel. One first class passenger, Rupin Katyal, — a young Indian man on his honeymoon — was stabbed so violently, his head is said to have separated from his body.

The Airbus 300 made harrowing, emergency landings in India, Pakistan and United Arab Emirates where Rupin Katyal’s body was eventually dumped on the tarmac. Finally, the plane was flown to Afghanistan. There, a little-known ruling religious militia called the Taliban arranged a hostage-for-prisoner exchange. Three convicted terrorists were sprung from Indian jails and escorted to Afghanistan by Indian officials. On the last night of the millennium, Dr. Jeanne Moore and her fellow airplane passengers were released from captivity in that sinister exchange.

After her return to American soil, Dr. Moore spoke to Barbara Walters about the hijacking. Then she got quiet. In the years that have passed, most notably in the years after 9/11, Dr. Moore has watched terror events unfold around the world with a close eye. In particular, she’s followed news about what happened to the three convicted terrorists for whom she and the others were exchanged.

Here’s how the Indian Government profiled the terrorists after their release:

Since their release, the terrorists’ rap sheets have expanded. After being released from prison, Omar Sheikh, went to Pakistan where he masterminded the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter, Daniel Pearl. Sheikh is also believed to have been the ‘paymaster for the hijackers‘ of 9/11. Maulana Masood Azhar has been tied to the London Planes Plot as well as two, deadly terror attacks inside India.

In a series of interviews over the past year, Dr. Moore has shared with me her thoughts and understanding on what it means when governments negotiate with terrorists. She understands such things first hand.

Stay tuned for more on Dr. Moore and the hijacking of Indian Air 814 at The Aviation Nation.

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For about five months now, England has been trying to extradite Rashid Rauf from Pakistan. Rauf, a citizen of both countries, is the alleged mastermind of the London Planes Plot — one which involved plans to blow up as many as ten commercial jets bound from London to the United States. The plot was foiled and made public on August 10, 2006. On Thursday, December 14, Scotland Yard got one step closer to Rauf; a Pakistani judge has dropped terrorism charges against him.

According to the Times Online, this paves the way for Rauf’s handover to England:

The dramatic ruling by a court in Rawalpindi is being seen as part of an agreement to speed up his return to the UK where Scotland Yard detectives want to question Mr Rauf about the Heathrow plot and his possible links to the 7/7 suicide bombers in London.

British officials missed him the first time and don’t want to repeat that fatal mistake yet again. From the Sunday Times Online (Sri Lanka):

Rauf, father of a suspect arrested in connection with last years’ London bombings, is alleged to have confessed that the plot involved blasting of at least ten aircraft. He is reported to have said that they were planning to use liquid bombs which would be made in the toilets of the aircraft by mixing hydrogen peroxide with other chemicals to be smuggled in as food or cosmetics.

The original arrests in the foiled plot netted twenty-three British men and one woman. To date, twelve young men have been charged with conspiracy to murder as well as preparing an act of terrorism. The men, many of Pakistani heritage and all Islamic fundamentalists, have been linked to Al-Muhajiroun — an Islamist group banned in London in October 2004. A fax written from Bin Laden to Al Muhajiroun’s leader, Omar Bakri Mohammed, is quoted on TheAviationNation.com About Us page. “Bring down their airliners…” Bin Laden commands.

Rashid Rauf is also linked to Al-Qaeda through marriage. He is believed to have married the sister of Maulana Masood Azhar, founder of Jaish-e-Mohammed, or Army of Mohammed. Masood Azhar was sprung from an Indian prison on New Year’s eve 1999 — in a hostage-for-prisoner exchange involving hijacked Indian Air 814. Shortly after the London Planes Plot was thwarted, Al-Jazeera aired videotape of Masood Azhar having dinner with Bin Laden. The London Planes Plotters are linked to Bin Laden in more ways that one. British counter-terrorism officials believe England remains ‘Number One Al-Qaeda’s Target.’ Security sources tell the BBC “the situation as never been so grim.”

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