Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (KSM), who masterminded Al Qaeda's 9/11 terrorist strikes in the US, is presently among those detained at the US' Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba. A military hearing was held at the centre onMarch,10, 2007, to determine whether he could be categorised as an enemycombatant. The hearing ruled he was an "enemy combatant" who should remain in detention indefinitely.
Edited versions of written and oral testimonies made by him at the time of the hearing were released by the US Defence Department at Washington DC on March14, 2007. In his written testimony, he has admitted his involvement in 29 terrorist strikes or planned terrorist strikes of Al Qaeda in his capacity as the Operational Director for Osama bin Laden. One of the planned terrorist strikes in which he admitted his involvement is an attack on the Israeli Embassy in India. The relevant portion of his testimony says: "I was responsible for surveying and financing for the destruction of the Israeli Embassy in India, Azerbaijan, the Philippines and Australia." The edited version of the testimony does not give any other details such as the year in which this was planned, what action was taken in pursuance of the plan, why the plan was not carried out etc.
The report of the US National Commission, which had enquired into the 9/11 terrorist strikes, had referred to a visit made by him to India. The report, which was released in 2004, had stated: "After meeting with BinLaden, KSM says he journeyed onward to India, Indonesia, and Malaysia, where he met with Jemaah Islamiah's Hambali." While the report did not specify when he visited India, form the context it appeared it might have been in 1997.
It is not clear whether he had visited India in connection with the plot to destroy the Israeli Embassy and, if so, when.
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B. Raman is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute for Topical Studies, Chennai.
