Army officials held over terror links
Accused of contact with headley and rana
Islamabad: Five Pakistani army officers have been detained for questioning over possible links to two US terror suspects accused of plotting an armed attack on a Danish newspaper, intelligence officials said on Tuesday.
The detentions underscore long-standing allegations that elements in Pakistan support a militant group known as Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is devoted to fighting the country's arch enemy, India.
The group is blamed for last year's terror attacks in Mumbai and other strikes in India in recent years. Last month's arrests of David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana in Chicago have cast a fresh spotlight on the group.
US prosecutors said the two men were believed to be working with an unidentified senior member of the outfit and a senior Al Qaida operative.
Two Pakistani intelligence officials, speaking anonymously because they are not allowed to release their identity, said phone records showed the five Pakistani officers had contacted Headley and Rana.
They say the five include a retired brigadier general and two active lieutenant colonels, but did not provide more details.
Pakistani military officials could not immediately be reached for confirmation.
The FBI says Headley travelled to Pakistan this year and may have been headed there when he was arrested on October 3 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport en route to Philadelphia.
Indian officials say Headley also may have been involved in planning the Mumbai terror attack, which occurred a year ago.
Headley, 49, and Rana, 48, are accused of plotting to kill one of the editors and a cartoonist at Danish paper Jyllands-Posten for publishing 12 cartoons in 2005 depicting the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
Evidence
The FBI has said only that it has evidence Headley and Rana were in contact with the Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which the Indian government blames for the Mumbai attacks that left 166 dead and 308 wounded.
US authorities say Headley was in contact with the group while he allegedly carried out reconnaissance this year near the newspaper offices in Copenhagen. They say Rana last year advised a member of the group on how to slip people into the US.
