UK police arriving in India to establish whether terrorists had British link
29 Nov 2008, 1529 Hrs

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London, Nov.29 British police have flown to India to establish whether any of the terrorists who killed 150 people in the Bombay massacre had links to the UK.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said two "British-born Pakistanis" were among the eight gunmen captured alive during bloody shoot-outs with soldiers.

The Daily Telegraph has also learnt that the terrorists monitored international reaction to the attacks on British newspaper websites and on Arabic websites popular in the north of England.

Gordon Brown said it was still too early to say whether any of the terrorists were British-born, while the Home Office said it had "no knowledge" of any UK suspects.

Scotland Yard officials are working alongside their Mumbai counterparts to confirm the nationalities of the killers.

Lt. Gen. Noble Thamburaj, General Officer Commanding in Chief of India's Southern Army Command, told the Telegraph: "There was a lot of content from the English media, not just in London but the Urdu and Arabic sites that are very strong in the north of England. We have some analysis started on this and we will pass it on to Scotland Yard."

General Thamburaj said at least five of the terrorists had used BlackBerrys to monitor British websites.

According to reports, two of the killers were members of the Taj Mahal hotel staff, while two others were staying there as guests, enabling them to plan the attack and gain an edge over security forces by familiarising themselves with the layout of the labyrinthine Edwardian building.

Britons were among 93 people freed from the Oberoi hotel as commandos finally ended the siege there. (ANI)