Captured Mumbai Lashkar e Taiba terror commando Mohammed Ajmal Amir Qasab told police in a videotaped confession on the night of his arrest that he turned to violence in part because his impoverished family was promised almost $4000 US dollars if his attack succeeded.In this file photo, a gunman identified by police as Mohammed Ajmal Aamir Qasab walks at the Chatrapathi Sivaji Terminal railway station in Mumbai, India. Qasab, the only gunman captured after a 60-hour terrorist siege of Mumbai said he belonged to a Pakistani militant group with links to the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, a senior police officer said Sunday. "We were told that our big brother India is so rich and we are dying of poverty and hunger. My father sells dahi wada on a stall in Lahore and we did not even get enough food to eat from his earnings. I was promised that once they knew that I was successful in my operation, they would give Rs 1,50,000 [almost USD 4,000] to my family)," said Qasab. He also naively begged police to not reveal he had survived since Lashkar e Taiba had sent him to die,and if it was revealed he had survived, he later would be killed by other members of his terrorist organization.

"Jihad means to kill, become famous and make God happy," captured terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab reportedly answered interrogating Mumbai police when asked to define "jihad", or "holy war", a term some militants use to justify violence.

Police officials also claimed Kasab could not recite any verse in the Koran, the Islamic holy book, and that he admitted that money tempted him to enlist in the November 26 terrorist attack on Mumbai, along with nine others, all of whom were killed. The seaborne assault last week launched from outside India killed 183 people and injured over 300. After officially banned Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET) promised to compensate Kasab's impoverished familyin Faridkot village in Pakistan's Punjab province, Kasab's father asked him to join the LET a year ago, according to the "confession". Twenty-one-year old Kasab was captured by Mumbai police at Girgaum Chowpatty on Marine Drive during their three-night siege of two luxury hotels and a Jewish community center in south Mumbai. Kasab is a rare prize: a terrorist captured alive on a suicide mission. He is also the center of a mystery because there have been no coherent or consistent accounts of his statements to authorities. The captured terrorist's contradictory explanations are mirrored in India's confused official response to what's being described as the world's most audacious and brutal urban terrorist attack since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Indian and international media professionals for the past week have have not had access to any coordinated government briefings on the crisis. There is no spokesperson or even official statements clearly underlining India's position. For instance, on the afternoon of December 2, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee ruled out India launching military action against Pakistan. By night, however, Mukherjee was reported to have said nothing was ruled out on how to respond to Pakistan. On December 3, Mukherjee declared that India's response will be based on what action Pakistan takes to deliver on Indian demands, such as handing over a list of "20 Most Wanted" fugitives said to be in Pakistan.

INDIAN air force chiefs today said authorities have received warning of a possible airborne attack.The threat comes as airports were put on high alert following intelligence warnings that terrorists may be planning fresh attacks.Indian Defence Minister AK Antony summoned the military chiefs to warn them to be prepared for attacks from the air and the sea in the wake of growing criticism over security after the Mumbai attacks.Meanwhile, Indian officials said two senior leaders of a banned Pakistani militant group are suspected to have orchestrated the three-day siege of the country's financial capital.Evidence points to Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Yusuf Muzammil as the masterminds behind last week's bloody rampage in Mumbai, according to government officials. Lakhvi and Muzammil belong to outlawed Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Taiba – which India blames in the attack – and are believed to be living in Pakistan, the officials said. The lone surviving gunman in the assault told police Lakhvi recruited him and the assailants called Muzammil on a satellite phone. The revelations came as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Pakistan today.

Five terrorist gunmen might have escaped the carnage in Mumbai and could strike again.Security forces claimed only 10 militants were behind the co-ordinated attacks that claimed almost 200 lives. However, a hijacked Indian fishing boat used by the gunmen had equipment for 15 men on board when it was discovered adrift, suggesting several gunmen could still be at large, the London Times reported. Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only gunman to be caught alive, said during police questioning that 24 men were trained in camps in Pakistan for the mission, according to a leaked account of his police interrogation. It also emerged yesterday that India had received warnings of a possible terrorist attack on targets in Mumbai. Unnamed US intelligence officials told the American ABC network they had warned their Indian counterparts in mid-October of a potential attack "from the sea against hotels and business centres in Mumbai". One intelligence official even mentioned specific targets, including the Taj hotel. Indian intelligence officials told ABC News that on November 18 they intercepted a satellite phone call to an address in Pakistan used by the leader of the Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist group, revealing a possible seaborne attack. US officials also said US intelligence had been tracking prepaid mobile phone SIM cards recovered from the Mumbai terrorists, which had led them to a "treasure trove" of leads from Pakistan and several possible connections to the US. The death toll from the attacks was yesterday revised to 188, up from 172.

The last of the militants holed up in Taj Mahal hotel kept crack commandos at bay engaging them in a fierce gunbattle tonight even two days after the attack that saw two luxury hotels bear the brunt.
Bodies of hapless victims--some of them hostages-- shrouded in white were being brought out from the Taj and Trident-Oberoi as the hotels became a mute witness to the unprecedented terror assault on their rich legacy by rampaging terrorists.The heavily armed terrorist is reported to be holed up in the ballroom of Mumbai's iconomic landmark and remained elusive with police saying there was no let up in his aggressive stance with grenades being hurled at regular intervals setting off fire at different places. Police said the militant appeared to have a huge stock of grenades.Fresh gun shots rang and loud explosions rattled the Taj tonight as the pride of Mumbai took a heavy beating. There were also reports than more than one terrorist could be still in the Taj.About 40 to 50 bodies were believed to have been recovered from the sea-front Taj hotel with commandos reporting that they saw around 15 bodies in one room alone.

A 29-year-old Brooklyn rabbi and his wife were believed to be among the foreigners held hostage by the terrorists that struck Mumbai, friends said early Thursday.
Gunmen seized the Mumbai headquarters of the Orthodox Jewish outreach group ChabadLubavitch, run by Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, according to media reports. Shots were heard coming from the building.