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March 5, 2009
Posted: 203 GMT
LONDON, England - Wednesday saw no dramatic developments in the investigation but instead witnessed a steady drip of reports and information about what happened and how. Up to twenty people were arrested but none of the gunmen responsible for the attack were apparently among them. Many have commented on the apparent ease with which the gunmen melted away into the city after the attack, and suggested this points to them receiving assistance from rogue elements within the military or the intelligence structure. While there may or may not have been collaboration of this kind, it's a mistake to make this assumption on this piece of evidence alone. It's easy, for instance, to forget that the men who tried to bomb London on July 21st, 2005 were also able to make good their escape and hide undetected for days. Some of those men, remember, were escaping, unarmed, from busy underground railway stations. It was six days before the Met police had the first would-be bomber under arrest, and detectives in London had all the benefits of the city's massive CCTV infrastructure at their disposal. Lahore, it seems safe to suggest, and notwithstanding the new video out Wednesday evening, is not quite so well endowed with surveillance cameras. What's more interesting is the number of reports now suggesting that the gunmen were carrying far more arms and ammunition than would be needed to execute an ambush only. Add to that the multiple reports they were also carrying dried fruit, nuts and water bottles in their rucksacks, and it does seem to point towards the possibility they had intended taking the Sri Lankan cricket team hostage. This possible scenario, of course, provides further similarities with the Mumbai attack three months ago. Perhaps predictably, there have been growing voices blaming India for Tuesday's attack. Hamid Gul, former head of Pakistan's military intelligence agency, has described it as "all too obviously the handiwork of Indian intelligence." Meanwhile, Pakistan's serving Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, has said he does not "rule out a foreign hand." Foreign hand is code for India, of course. It's not surprising that Pakistan's government might wish to point the finger abroad. At home and around the world, it has been slammed over this security failure. Whether or not individual police officers did their duty on the day – and one can understand why suggestions they did not have hurt when six police were killed in the attack – it doesn't seem unreasonable to suggest that the ruling party's squabble with its political rivals might also have played a part in the failure. Last month saw the dismissal of the provincial government in Punjab – of which Lahore is the capital – run by the party of Nawaz Sharif, the main nationwide opposition figure to President Asif Ali Zardari. Along with the outgoing administration, the most senior figures in the province's police force were also removed from their jobs. Faced, then, with a major security challenge – policing an international cricket match – it seems some of the main men responsible were still getting their feet under their new desks. Posted by: Andrew Carey, International Security Producer
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News and observations on the threats to international security and the challenges posed by terrorism to societies around the world. By CNN's International Security Correspondent, Paula Newton, and International Security Producer, Andrew Carey. From breaking news to background stories, from serious analysis to casual asides, if we think it's interesting we'll post it here. 
