FBI to question Ansari for 26/11 attacks

Officials of Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) have made a request to interrogate two militants arrested earlier by the Uttar Pradesh Police and questioned by Mumbai Police in connection with the 26/11 terror strikes.

The FBI made the request through proper channels for questioning Fahim Arshad Ansari and Sabbauddin, militants of banned Lashker-e-Taiba, who were brought to Mumbai in December last year as a follow up to the probe into the 26/11 attack, official sources said.

35-year-old Ansari had told his interrogators that he was asked by Pakistan's ISI to identify all the terror-hit places on "Googlemap.Com" and is believed to share the extreme mindset of Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda chief.

He claimed to be an ardent follower of Laden and had grown a beard like the global terrorist. "After joining my job in Dubai, I also used to discuss about Jehadi activities and appreciate the actions of Osama. My co-workers called me as Osama as I was keeping a beard like him," the militant is said to have told in his interrogation.

The FBI now wants to know whether the Mumbai terror strikes was a deep-rooted conspiracy for which planning had been done from earlier last year.

Ansari and another Lashkar militant, Sabbauddin, were arrested by central security agencies in February and April last year respectively.

The FBI has already questioned Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman Kasab, the lone Lashker-e-Taiba militant involved in November 26 terror strikes, for over nine hours recently to ascertain about his role and handlers in Pakistan.