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Washington: America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has played a crucial role in India and Pakistan sharing secret intelligence information on Mumbai terrorist attacks, a media report claimed today.
In a front page article, The Washington Post said CIA "orchestrated back-channel intelligence exchanges" between India and Pakistan with the top American intelligence agency itself playing the role of a neutral arbitrator.
"The exchanges, which began days after the deadly assault in late November, gradually helped the two sides overcome mutual suspicions and paved the way for Islamabad's announcement last week acknowledging that some of the planning for the attack had occurred on Pakistani soil, The Post quoted sources as saying.
Pak terror map
On November 26 last year, 183 people, including American nationals, were shot dead by Pakistani terrorists who entered Mumbai through sea, one of whom was captured by the Indian security forces and remains in the custody of Mumbai police.
Referring to interviews with sources in the US and foreign government, the newspaper said the intelligence went well beyond the public revelations about the ten Mumbai terrorists, and included sophisticated communications intercepts and an array of physical evidence detailing how the gunmen and their supporters planned and executed their three-day killing spree in India's financial hub.