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Little-known militant behind Lahore attack
 A little-known militant Muhammad Aqil has been identified by Pakistani security agencies as the mastermind of the audacious attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore, but raids across the city to nab him proved futile on Monday as he managed to escape."You may call me...Abu X. I'll be here in the shadows. The security agencies conducted raids at several places after identifying Aqil, who has links to a banned militant group. However, the name of the group was not revealed. Though Aqil, who hails from Kahuta, managed to escape, his accomplice Talat was captured, Geo News channel quoted sources as saying. Meanwhile, a top Sri Lankan official has said that the needle of suspicion for last Tuesday's attack on the country's cricketers in Lahore was also on the LTTE. Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said it was possible that the Tamil Tiger rebels were trying to distract the governments attention from the ongoing offensives against the guerrillas. We have heard that Pakistani authorities are also concerned that an external element may have contributed to the attack on our cricketers in Lahore. We also have this suspicions from the beginning, Kohona said. "We will recall that on the first day of the attack itself certain suggestions were made that the LTTE may have had a hand in it. It would be surprising if they had not been behind this, Kohona told reporters yesterday. It may be recalled that the LTTE has distanced itself from the attack on the bus carrying the cricketers in Lahore last week. LTTE spokesman Thileepan in an interview to Australias Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) last week said that the outfit was in no way involved with the attack the island nations cricket team, which cancelled the visit due to returned home subsequently. And he (Thileepan) said the LTTE rejected speculation that it could be linked to the attack in Pakistan on the Sri Lankan cricket team, the SBS reported. Talat and Aqil had been living a in flat near the Liberty traffic roundabout, where the Sri Lankan team was attacked on March 3 by a dozen gunmen who ambushed its luxury bus, leaving seven players and an assistant coach injured and eight people dead. Talat purchased a mobile phone SIM that was used by the terrorists involved in the attack, Geo News reported. Aqil masterminded the attack and was also in-charge of its execution, it added. Posted by: Fred 2009-03-10 |
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