| Pakistan President calls Sonia, condemns terrorism in | | | |
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The President said militancy and extremism in all its forms and manifestations had to be eliminated and all countries need to cooperate with each other in this regard. The President asked Sonia Gandhi to convey his grief and sorrow to the people of |
President, PM strongly condemn Mumbai terror incidents |
ISLAMABAD, Nov 27 (APP): President A
sif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday strongly co
ndemned the terrorist attacks in the 
Indian city of Mumbai . President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani in their separate condolence messages addressed to their Indian counterparts expressed shock and grief over the loss of lives in last night’s terrorist attacks.
“On behalf of the people and Government of Pakistan and on my own behalf, I wish to express our deep shock and sorrow at last night’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai”, the President said in a message addressed to Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil.
He said, “the people of Pakistan join you in mourning the loss of so many precious lives. We offer our heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the family members of all those who have lost their lives or have been injured in these incidents.”
President Zardari said Pakistan strongly condemns these acts of terrorism. “Terrorism is a scourge of humanity, which needs to be rooted out”, he added.
Prime Minister Gilani in his message addressed to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was shocked to learn about the deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai last night which have caused enormous loss of lives.
“Please accept our deepest condolences on these dastardly attacks” he said and added “such acts of violence and terrorism are totally unacceptable in any civilized society.”
The Prime Minister said the Government and people of Pakistan unequivocally and strongly condemn these heinous acts of terrorism.
“Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration”, he added.
Sourse: High Commission Office of Colombo
Canadian authorities acting on information provided by Sri Lankan Tamil expatriates in Toronto have stopped the main Suicide Bombers' Day celebrations organized by the LTTE supp
orters Nov 27TH MORNING.
According to a reliable source in Canada, members of the terrorist outfit have organized the event in grand scale at Parsons Convention Centre at Brampton, Toronto. The event has been scheduled to be commenced around 7 AM (Canadian Time) with the participant listening to the annual suicide bombers day speech by terrorist chief V. Prbhakaran, the sources added.
"The organizers have put up huge video screens, heavy sound systems, and a satellite connection to air the terrorist leaders' speech", our source said.
The sources added that the organizers have expected a couple of thousands of Tamils to participate for the event.
The sources were responding to a plea to this effect that Velupillai Prabhakaran, the founder leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), made Thursday evening as part of his annual speech.
The sources, speaking to IANS on the condition of anonymity, said the question of acceding to the request did not arise since the ban, first imposed in 1992, had been extended for another two years only now.
India was the first country to outlaw the LTTE, which is fighting for a separate homeland to be carved out of Sri Lanka's northeast, following the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Since then, several countries have followed suit.
In his Nov 27 address from an undisclosed destination, Prabhakaran said that he wanted to"build a constructive relationship" with India, which he described as a "superpower".
The Supreme Court today (Nov. 28th) directed President Mahinda Rajapaksa to takeover the Petroleum Ministry from Minister A. H. M. Fowzie and to consider appointing another minister.
The SC also ordered the immediate suspension of Asantha de Mel as chairman of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva considered petitions filed by chief incumbent of Nalandarama Vihara, Nugegoda Ven. Theeniyawala Palitha Thera, Laugfs Gas chairman W.K.L. Wegodapitiya, UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake and legal coordinator of 'Corruption Watch' attorney Ravi Jayawardena.
The petitioners claimed their fundamental rights have been violated due to the non-reduction of local fuel prices in line with world market prices.
The SC directed the CPC to suspend controversial hedging payments to banks until a probe by the finance board of Central Bank into the matter is over.
The court also ordered the Treasury to submit a report within a week on the possibility of reducing local fuel prices.
The SC blamed authorities for having appointed an unqualified person, who had even not passed the G.C.E. Advanced Level examination to a responsible position like the CPC chairmanship, and said the ministers who had protected such a person should be exposed.
Much can be learnt from the conduct of the Indian government, which left no scope for an outburst of racism, opposition leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe said.
Speaking in Parliament today (Nov. 28th), Mr. Wickremesinghe lauded the Indian government on its conduct in the aftermath of the attacks without letting extremists to go on rampage, and strongly condemned the terrorist act.
He also emphasized the need for political solutions to defeat terrorism.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rohitha Bogollagama said that it was extremely important for the government and the opposition to join hands in order to
. He was delivering the keynote address at Remembrance Day ceremony, attended by around 40,000 people, in London yesterday (Nov. 27th).
Tiger leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran yesterday said the LTTE wanted to stop the war and seek a peaceful resolution to the national question of the Tamil people.
Prabhakaran in his annual Heroes’ Day address, also extended a hand of friendship to the international community especially India and invited the countries that have banned the Tigers to understand the deep aspirations and friendly overtures of the Tamil people, to remove the LTTE ban and to recognize the LTTE struggle.
Mumbai hotel 'under army control'One of the luxury hotels taken over by gunmen in Mumbai is back under the control of the authorities, India's elite commando chief says.
JK Dutt said commandos had killed two militants at the Oberoi-Trident hotel. Police found 24 bodies there, shortly after 93 guests and staff were freed.
Gun battles continue at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel and a Jewish centre, where hostages are still being held.
India's foreign minister said "elements with links to Pakistan" were involved.
Pranab Mukherjee added that details could not be given at this time - this was only from initial evidence.
 Commandos are moving down through Nariman House |
"This is a collective issue. We are facing a common enemy and we should join hands to defeat the enemy," he said.
Earlier, the Indian navy took control of two Pakistani merchant navy ships and began questioning their crews after witnesses said some of the militants came ashore on small speedboats.
At least 130 people are reported to have been killed since the attacks began late Wednesday, but that figure is expected to rise as more bodies are found.
'Bodies in hall'
Mr Dutt, the director-general of India's National Security Guard, said the Oberoi-Trident was "under our control". 
"We have killed two terrorists today," he said. "There was lots of firing, they also lobbed hand grenades. Some of them are unexploded, we are going to defuse them - you may hear some sound of explosions."
Earlier, the army said at least one gunman with "two or more hostages" remained in the Taj Mahal Palace hotel.
More than 100 commandos have gone into the Taj Mahal and gunfire and explosions continue to be heard, say BBC correspondents outside the hotel.
POPE BENEDICT XVI heartfelt condolences to the families
SPOKESMAN FOR BAN KI-MOON, UN SECRETARY GENERAL
The secretary general condemns the rash of shootings and blasts in Mumbai today, which killed and wounded a large number of people. Such violence is totally unacceptable.
The secretary general reiterates his conviction that no cause or grievance can justify indiscriminate attacks against civilians. He calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice swiftly.
[He] sends his deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and the wounded and expresses his solidarity with the people and government of
There has been widespread international condemnation of the series of shootings across the Indian city of
World leaders strongly cond
emn terrorist attacks in Mumbai in
PAKISTANI PRESIDENT ASIF ALI ZARDARI
The attacks in
Mumbai have claimed many innocent victims and remind us, yet again, of the threat we face from violent extremists.
Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those killed and injured.
PAKIST
ANI PRIME MINISTER YOUSUF R
AZA GILANI
I condemn these attacks strongly.
We need to take strict measures to eradicate terrorism and extremism from the region while continuing with concerted efforts to make it a peaceful place to live.
WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY DANA PERINO
President Bu
sh offers his condolences to the Indian people and the families of the innocent civilians killed and injured in the attacks in
The
This afternoon, the White House National Security Council convened officials from counter-terrorism and intelligence agencies as well as the state
and defence departments.
The
BROOKE ANDERSON, SPOKESMAN FOR BARACK OBAMA
President-elec
t Obama strongly condemns today's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, and his thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families, and the people of
These co-ordinated attacks on innocent civilians demonstrate the grave and urgent threat of terrorism.
The
y terrorist networks.
We stand with the people of
I have sent a message to [Indian] Prime Minister [Manmohan] Singh that the
y respond, and to offer all necessary help.
Urgent action is underway to offer every possible protection to British citizens in the region.
QIN GANG, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN
DMITRY MEDVEDEV, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT
We are concerned about the loss of life and consider that acts of terrorism of this type are harmful to the whole inte
rnational order and are a challenge to humanity.
HAMID KARZAI, AFGHAN PRESIDENT
Terrorism is a tyrant enemy which threatens all of humanity and has challenged the region of
IFTEKHAR AHMED
We strongly condemned what's happened in Mumbai. These are acts of terrorism, and terrorism serves no purpose. Many innocent people have suffered, many have been killed, others injured and we send them our condolences.
KEVIN RUDD, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER
Whichever group has perpetrated this attack, they are cowards, absolute cowards, and murderers.
This cowardly attack on
TARO ASO, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER
This kind of terrorism is unforgivable, extremely despicable and vicious. I feel strong 
resentment and deeply condemn it.
DAVID MILIBAND,
Today's attacks in Mumbai which have claimed many innocent victims, remind us, yet again, of the threat we face from violent extremists.
I condemn these attacks unreservedly. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those killed and injured.
The
hkar fidayeen captured Police sources said an injured terrorist captured during the fighting at the Taj Mahal hotel was tentatively identified as Ajmal Amir Kamal, a resident of Faridkot, near Multan, in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
India PM address the nationIn an address to the nation on Thursday evening, he talked tough. “We are not prepared to countenance a situation in which the safety and security of our citizens can be violated with impunity by terrorists.”
Dr. Singh promised the nation that the strongest possible measures would be taken to ensure that there was no repetition of such terrorist acts. “We are determined to take whatever measures are necessary to ensure the safety and security of our citizens.”
Indicating that his government may be finally overcoming its diffidence in meeting head-on the terrorist challenge, Dr. Singh said: “We will go after these individuals and organisations and make sure that every perpetrator, organiser and supporter of terror, whatever his affiliations or religion may be, pays a heavy price for these cowardly and horrific acts against our people.”
For good measure, the Prime Minister also suggested that his government would be prepared to use the National Security Act, as well as tighten laws to the disadvantage of the terrorist. He suggested that a federal investigation agency be “immediately set up.”
The Prime Minister sent out a stern message to anyone wanting to fish in Mumbai’s troubled waters and warned that “all concerned authorities are on alert and will deal sternly with any attempts to disturb the public order.”
Dr. Singh paid a pointed tribute to the “courage and patriotism” of the chief of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, Hemant Karkare, and his men who took the terrorists’ bullet.
Secretary-General of the Arab League and Foreign Ministers of Oman, Israel, Australia and Canada called up External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee expressing condemnation, condolences and solidarity.
Security sources were reported in the British media as saying targeting Western citizens suggested a “typical Al-Qaeda-style activity.” The attacks, seen as the most coordinated operation since 9/11, were believed to be in “retaliation” for recent American air attacks on suspected Al-Qaeda hideouts in the tribal areas on Pakistan-Afghanistan border that reportedly killed a number of leading Al-Qaeda militants and its supporters.
Mumbai:Reporting The hindu :
Pix:Hotel taj“They looked just like boys and they were on the rampage — it’s a full-on.”
Mr. David and Ms. Katie arrived in the city to celebrate their graduation.
“We had just sat down for dinner, ordering food, when it seemed fire crackers were bursting all around us and people were screaming,” the duo told Sydney’s Courier-Mail newspaper over telephone.
Ms. Katie was shot in the leg and the bullet broke her femur. Mr. David was grazed by a bullet. He said he had to virtually carry his girlfriend as she couldn’t move.
“We got into a taxi which took us to Bombay Hospital. We were, I think, the first people at the hospital, which is where we are now,” one of them said.
Taj Hotels GM’s wife, sons killedThe wife and two teenaged sons of Taj Hotels General Manager Karambir Kang were killed in the attack.
A relative of the Kangs family, which hails from Mohali, said that while Karambir Kang was not in the hotel on Wednesday night, his wife Neeti and sons Uday (14) and Samar (5) were. — PTI
The Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome said among the dead was an Italian national, identifying him as Antonio de Lorenzo.
All Italians who were in hotels or other areas attacked in Mumbai have been contacted “except for one or two people,” the country’s Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told a local TV channel.
Japanese national Tsuda, who was working with Mtsui M
arubeni Liquefied Gas Co, died at a hospital after being shot in the leg, stomach and chest at the Trident hotel, the company’s vice-president Hajime Tamaki said in Tokyo. Another of its employees, 44, fell and suffered light injuries as he fled the scene, he said, without identifying the injured by name.
The Australian, Braid Gilbert Taylor (49) was brought dead to St. George Hospital in south Mumbai, sources added.
Among the 60 injured admitted to the Bombay Hospital, 11 foreigners were from different nationalities, Ashish Tiwari of the hospital said.
The injured foreigners are from Australia, U.S., Norway, Spain, Canada and Singapore.
Seven Britons injuredSeven British citizens were injured in the attacks, British High Commissioner in India Sir Richard Stag, said.
Britain would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with India in countering terrorism, he told reporters outside the Taj hotel. Sir Richard described the attacks as “appalling and unjustifiable.”
2 MEPs escapeA London report said two European Parliament members escaped indiscriminate terrorist firing at the Taj hotel, but their whereabouts were not known.
Conservative member Sajjad Karim and Erika Mann, a German Socialist, were part of a delegation of European parliamentarians from a trade committee staying in the Mumbai hotel for meetings ahead of an European Union-India summit.
Karim, 38, spoke to Sky News by mobile phone of his ordeal and attempts to hide from the terrorists in the basement of the hotel until his mobile phone battery ran out.
Mann, 57, was reportedly hiding in the hotel’s kitchen from where she told a colleague who called her on her mobile: “It is too dangerous to talk.”
Mr. Karim told Sky News that he and others had fled from machine-gun fire and had no idea why the hotel was targeted.
A German national has been confirmed killed and several injured in Mumbai, the Foreign Ministry said in Berlin.
“We have to assume that other Germans have been affected,” a spokeswoman said. — Agencies
Japan expresses solidarityP.S. Suryanarayana reports from Singapore:
Countries across East Asia, especially those whose nationals were killed or wounded or trapped at the sites targeted by terrorists in Mumbai, have expressed solidarity with India and offered anti-terror cooperation. A Japanese businessman was killed on the spot and his associate wounded at a hotel as they were about to check in. Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, expressing shock over the carnage, said Japan was “willing to work together with India” in taming terrorists.
Speaking immediately after news trickled in that two Australians were injured, Acting Foreign Minister Simon Crean, described the terrorist strikes as “an appalling assault on the people, and the stability and the democracy in India.”
Fresh explosions have been heard at the Taj Mahal hotel, where police are trying to free hostages.
A gunman was killed around 1 a.m. in the Oberoi hotel, where commandos were going room-to-room, trying to flush out attackers and rescue people trapped inside, J.K. Dutt, the director of India's National Security Guard, told CNN-IBN, CNN's sister network in India.
Dutt said he could not say how many gunmen remained in the Oberoi, where hostages have been trickling out of the building for hours.
Security forces used in-house telephones to ask guests holed up in their rooms to switch on lights and open curtains, so that they could provide cover, CNN correspondent Andrew Stevens reported. 
