Will India be able to deliver justice?

“Justice has been done”. As soon as US President Barack Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed, jubilant Americans flocked to Ground Zero to mark the death of world’s No. 1 terrorist. The killer of thousands of people was shot in the head in the 40-minute operation by US forces on the land of Pakistan.

The ‘Kill Osama’ operation has popped up a very significant debate in India. Can India conduct a similar operation against its enemies, who are hiding in Pakistan? Do Indian politicians have the resolve to bring to justice 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, LeT terrorist Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri and 1993 Mumbai serial blasts mastermind Dawood Ibrahim?

The whole operation makes clear one thing. Diplomacy with Pakistan without pressure does not work. Pakistan talks the talk but does not walk the talk. India has claimed it oft times that the US’ key ally in the war against terror – Pakistan – actually harbors terrorism. The claims made in leaked US government documents obtained by WikiLeaks prove it. The leaks say Pakistan’s security services used to tip off Osama bin Laden whenever US troops approached. Not surprisingly, the terror lord was found in a mansion in Abbottabad, home to many retired military and intelligence figures and just a mile away from the gate of the Pakistan Military Academy.

Whether the operation was carried out with or without Pakistan, the killing of Osama has exposed the two-faced Islamabad. Pakistan had used 9/11 as an opportunity to be an ally of the US in its war against terror. But this time, Pakistan has been left in a dubious state. If Pakistan says the US conducted this operation with its knowledge, it puts the South Asian country on terror radar. If Pakistan says it had no beforehand knowledge of the US’ operation, it proves the country is dumb enough to be fooled. US helicopters breached Pakistan’s defences and later Barack Obama informed Asif Ali Zardari about the triumphant operation.
But the point is: will New Delhi go beyond handing out dossiers to Islamabad? Will India be able to deliver justice to those who were shockingly terrorized and still painfully recall the horrific and deadly blasts in which their kin were killed? What will India do besides reiterating calls for Pakistan to arrest those behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks which killed 166 people? Indubitably, Indian agencies know the addresses of most of the wanted terrorists, who scoff at India in speeches and vicious acts. So, can India do the US in Pakistan?
China has come out in support of its all-weather ally, Pakistan. Beijing has also indicated it would not force Islamabad to hand over perpetrators of 26/11 to India. Already, China-Pakistan ties are a cause of concern for India. And it is also worrying that China will use this moment to increase its influence in Pakistan, where most of the population is angry about the fact that the US forces killed Osama on their country’s soil.
Why is it that at every opportunity, our ministers plead to the United States to tell Pakistan to bring 26/11 perpetrators to justice? Indian politicians seem to have no determination to act tough with Pakistan. Even after 26/11, what India could do was to call back its High Commissioner from Islamabad. Osama’s death brings with it a lesson for the Indian government. Move beyond just talks, Mr PM. If Pakistan were to be persuaded by talks, New Delhi would have gotten hold of most of its wanted man by now. But this certainly is not the case. India’s naïve approach to stop Pakistan from sponsoring terror has produced no results.
The US has killed its Osama, but India’s many Osamas are still hiding in the safe havens of Pakistan. Will India be able to deliver justice now? Hopes are slim, sadly.

Pak needs to do more about LeT, Hafiz Saeed

Timothy J. Roemer, U.S. Ambassador to India, said the American Congress would be taking a “very hard look” and ask “tough” questions as to how terror mastermind and al-Qaeda leader bin Laden was living in Abottabad, north of Islamabad.

"We are certainly going to see the Capitol Hill (U.S. Congress) take a very hard look at the assistance that we give and we invest in security for Pakistan," Mr. Roemer told reporters here.

Noting that the Congress was going to engage in two very fundamentally important task in the weeks ahead, he said the U.S. lawmakers will look into the selling of military equipment to Pakistan and the presence of bin Laden in Abottabad.

"One will be as we share or sell certain military equipment to Pakistan. Is that being used in the proper way to take on counter terrorism efforts. We have seen over the past 18 months, Pakistan has stepped up those efforts to target al Qaeda leadership and degrade that leadership. That is a positive outcome," he said.

However, he said, "Are they doing enough on LeT? Are they doing enough on Mumbai trials? Are they doing enough on Hafiz Saeed and (Zaki-ur-Rehman) Lakhvi? No, they need to do more."

He said the other question that will be raised by the U.S. Congress will be with respect to bin Laden being discovered outside of Islamabad. "We remember Khalid Sheikh Mohammad was discovered inside Rawalpindi back in 2003. This is a concern. Congress will ask tough questions and we want to get to the bottom of it. How do we more effectively use that aid to make sure that Pakistan is helping us not only degrade al Qeada but go after groups like LeT," he said.

Mr. Roemer said the killing of bin Laden showed that the U.S. was "undeterred" in seeking justice.

He said U.S. President Barack Obama has noted that they would not have been able to kill bin Laden, had it "not been for some of cooperation" that Pakistan extends to the U.S., particularly in targeting al-Qaeda leaders.

However, he said, the U.S. knew that Pakistan "needs to do more" and it has been seen "very evidently" from senior level U.S. officials visiting Islamabad telling "very clearly" so.

"We continue to encourage Pakistan to show results on Mumbai trials, to take on LeT as a terrorist group and to make sure that people like Lakhvi stay in prison," he said.

Mr. Roemer said Pakistan "needs to show" progress and results in Mumbai trials and the US wants to see progress, results and justice.

"We also continue to work with our partners in India against groups like LeT and we continue to work in this security partnership on strengthening Indian capacity against terrorist attacks...," he said.

dramatically minimised collateral damage

We won't trot out Osama photos as trophies: Obama

Washington: US President Barack Obama has decided not to release photos of killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's body saying, "We don't trot out this stuff as trophies".

Announcing Obama's decision "not to release any of the photographs of deceased Osama bin Laden", White House Press Secretary Jay Carney read a quote from Obama to CBS "60 Minutes" to be telecast Sunday.

"When they landed, we had very strong confirmation that it was him. Photographs had been taken. Facial analysis had indicated that in fact it was him. We hadn't yet done DNA testing, but at that point we were 95 percent sure."

Obama saw the pictures? "Yes."

Reaction? "It was him."

Why not release them? "We discussed this internally. Keep in mind that we are absolutely certain that this was him. We've done DNA sampling and testing. So there was no doubt that we killed Osama bin Laden."

"It is very important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of someone shot in the head are not floating around ... as a propaganda tool. That's not who we are," Obama said.

"We don't trot out this stuff as trophies. ... I think Americans and people around the world are glad that he is gone. But we don't need to spike the football. ... would create some national security risk."

Carney said in reaching the decision about not releasing the photos, Obama talked about it with Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"He held his opinion very firmly," Carney said.

Asked about CIA Director Leon Panetta's claim that a photo would be released, Carney said there's a "compelling argument" for releasing information. He says Obama was "engaged" in the discussion.

Osama would have been taken alive if he had surrendered: White House

The American commando team that killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden would have taken him alive if he had surrendered, the White House said Wednesday.

"If he had surrendered ... then that would have been bringing him to justice as well," press secretary Jay Carney told reporters. "But he was brought to justice on Sunday."

The American team "had the authority to kill Osama bin Laden unless he offered to surrender," he said. Asked about Pakistan's claim that the raid was unlawful, Carney asserted, "The raid was entirely lawful".

"We have a complicated but vital and important relationship with Pakistan," he said. "We don't agree on everything. But their cooperation has been essential."

Asked about the "firefight" in the bin Laden raid Sunday, and who was firing back at American forces, Carney said the White House has been "as helpful as we can be to provide as much information as we can", but that the administration won't be releasing details yet.

On where bin Laden was shot, Carney said: "Above the neck." He said he would not go into "operational details" of the Osama bin Laden raid, but he said that the American team's efforts "dramatically minimised collateral damage".

Asked if bin Laden's location have been known without torture techniques, Carney said: "I can say with certainty that no single piece of information, with the exception of the address of the compound, was vital to this, was singularly vital to this, because we're talking about tiny bits of information that were compiled by unbelievably competent professionals ... over nine and a half years." There was no "thread" that "held the thought together", he said

At least 6 top Qaeda leaders in Pakistan: US lawmaker

At least half a dozen top Al Qaeda leaders are in Pakistan, a US lawmaker, who heads key a Congressional intelligence committee, said.

"Of the 20 senior leaders in al-Qaeda , at least a dozen of them, we believe to be travelling around Pakistan someplace," Congressman Mike Rogers, chairman of the powerful House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told reporters at a news conference.

Rogers said US lawmakers would be seeking answers from Pakistan that how Osama bin Laden lived so close to Islamabad. He was killed yesterday in an operation by the US special forces in garrison town of Abbottabad.

"I don't want to speculate if they did or they did not. I mean, we're going to ask those questions. I think Americans have the right to know that. I would like to know hat they knew," Rogers said.

"But at the same time, we have to remember there are still equities that we have in Pakistan as it relates to our national security. We know there are some incredibly bad people there," he noted, adding, it is important for the US that it maintains a relationship Pakistan.

"Keeping a diplomat for 42 days, all of those things -- there's been some speculation in the past about release of information to bad guys through their ISI. All of those things remain a tension for the United States and Pakistan. We hope that we can work our way through it. Doesn't mean that we're not going to ask hard questions," Rogers said.

The powerful Republican Congressman said the information started on this four years ago under George Bush administration.

"I don't draw the nexus between going into Afghanistan and Iraq and not being able to get bin Laden. The reason we had such difficulty is because of his operational security, the way he conducted himself and operated," he said.

"I mean, think about this, the million-dollar compound plus, which is outlandish by that region of Pakistan that was built to repel any operation just as it happened. No Internet connectivity. They would use cut-outs to cut-outs, meaning they had people who met people they didn't know to deliver a message to another person they didn't know, who eventually worked its way back to Osama bin Laden," he said.

The Congressman said to track bin Laden was "very tricky business".

"And we don't get to walk around every place we want in the world knocking on doors doing an FBI-style investigation about where is somebody," Rogers said.

Hunt on for owner of mansion where Osama was hiding

A massive hunt has been launched for the owner of the sprawling mansion in Abbottabad where Osama bin Laden was hiding in Abbottabad city. The Al Qaeda leader was killed at the $1 million house by US security forces.

The locals used to call the house Waziristan Haveli as it was was owned by a transporter from Waziristan. "Nobody had a clue to the presence of Osama and his family there," Dawn quoted a local resident as saying.

An official said the Waziristani transporters' connection could give them clues as to how Osama and his family travelled to the place. Security agencies are now looking for the mansion's owner.

The house was built some five years ago and it is not far from the Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul.

According to an official, it may have been built close to a high security zone to protect it from foreign intelligence operatives and electronic surveillance and predator drones.

An analyst added: "...that he would live a quiet family life with his wives and children, away from the rugged hot-zones of the tribal regions, in a picturesque and scenic place like Abbottabad was beyond anybody's imaginations."