UPDATED: Indian Government Claims that British-Born Islamists amongst Mumbai Terrorists

The Indian government and news media have claimed that British-born Islamists are amongst the terrorists who have struck in Mumbai, leaving at least 130 dead and hundreds wounded.

Indian news channel NDTV reported that “British citizens of Pakistani origin” were among the attackers.

* Latest reports say that as many as seven of the terrorists have British connections and some could be from Leeds and Bradford where London’s Juy 7 bombers lived. Two British-born Muslims were among eight gunmen arrested, according to Mumbai’s chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. At least nine others are reportedly dead.

One Indian security official has been quoted as saying that “There is growing concern about British involvement in the attacks.”

Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee has publicly blamed elements in Pakistan for the series of co-ordinated attacks.

“According to preliminary information, some elements in Pakistan are responsible,” he said.

It was the first time the Indian government had specifically named Pakistan as having a role in the attacks. Officials had previously talked of the militant gunmen coming from “outside the country.”

Vilasrao Deshmukh, the chief minister of Mumbai, was reported to have said that two British-born Pakistanis were among eight gunmen seized by Indian commandos who stormed buildings to free hostages.

A 2005 Daily Telegraph poll showed that about a quarter of British Muslims sympathised with the motives of the London train bombers. The polls also showed that one-third of British Muslims believe Western society is immoral.

The poll asked Muslims if they felt the July 7th suicide attacks in which 56 people died were justified, and six percent said they were.

* A 2007 poll found that almost a third of British Muslim students believe killing in the name of Islam can be justified. Hannah Stuart, one of the report’s authors for the YouGov Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC) poll said it raised concerns about the extent of campus radicalism. “Significant numbers appear to hold beliefs which contravene democratic values,” she said.