London bombers clearly linked to Pakistan

London bombers clearly linked to Pakistan

LONDON - Western intelligence sources tell NBC News that an admitted al-Qaida operative has told interrogators he took one of the London bombers to a terrorist training camp in Pakistan.

Monday, the Pakistan connection became indisputable, with solid evidence that three bombers visited there and that two met with al-Qaida operatives.

Photos show the leader of the bombers — Mohammed Sidique Khan — entering Pakistan last November, along with Shehzad Tanweer. Authorities say the two stayed in the country four months. Another bomber, Habib Hussein, also visited Pakistan.

U.S. sources say an al-Qaida operative now in U.S. custody, Mohammed Junad Babar, has told interrogators he took Sidique Khan to a suspected al-Qaida training camp in Pakistan during a previous visit.

"Al-Qaida was involved, at the very minimum, in the training — both in the ideology and combat skills required to conduct this operation," says retired Air Force Lt. Col. Rick Francona, an NBC terrorism analyst.

Pakistani authorities say that Tanweer also met with a different al-Qaida operative while in Pakistan and visited extremist Islamic schools.

Western intelligence sources say there's an "increasing sense" the London attacks were planned and directed in Pakistan. But were the attacks directed by al-Qaida? And if so, how high did the plot go?

Singapore monitoring citizens visiting Pakistan

SINGAPORE: Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan on Monday said the government was monitoring its citizens who went to religious schools in Pakistan, following the reports that three of the four London suicide bombers had visited the country.

Speaking in the parliament, Tan, who is also the coordinating minister for defence and security, said Singapore was a free society and the government could not control every movement of its people but was monitoring Singaporeans who went to Madaris in Pakistan.