FBI to help probe attacks in India

November 29, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

Five Americans were among those killed in Mumbai.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government ordered FBI agents Friday to fly to India to investigate the bloody Mumbai attacks that killed at least five Americans. U.S. citizens still in the city were warned their lives remain at risk.

Intelligence officials looked urgently for clues about the identity of the attackers, a crucial unknown as Indian officials charged, without giving details, that “elements in Pakistan” were involved. A tentative rapprochement between the two nuclear-armed rivals could hang in the balance, and a U.S. counterintelligence official cautioned against rushing to judgment on the origins of the militants.

President George W. Bush pledged cooperation with Indian authorities and mourned the deaths of more than 150 people at the hands of gunmen who attacked targets across India’s financial capital starting Wednesday night.

“My administration has been working with the Indian government and the international community as Indian authorities work to ensure the safety of those still under threat,” Bush said in a statement from the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland. “We will continue to cooperate against these extremists who offer nothing but violence and hopelessness.”

Bush was receiving regular updates, White House press secretary Dana Perino said Friday night. Senior administration officials were focused on ensuring that Americans were being helped in every way possible, she said.

“The administration also has continued to work with the Indian government at all levels and has offered assistance and support,” Perino said.

A U.S. counterterrorism official said it was premature to reach conclusions on who may be responsible for the attacks. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation, said some “signatures of the attack” were consistent with the work of militants who have fought against India in the disputed Kashmir region.

Officials were working out the final details with Indian diplomats Friday for the departure of an FBI team, said U.S. authorities, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because of the delicate nature of the operation. A second group of investigators was on alert to join the first team if necessary.

“Americans are still at risk on the ground” in Mumbai on Friday, the State Department said, warning citizens not to travel to the stricken city at least through the weekend.

U.S. officials were checking with Indian authorities and hospitals to learn more about the extent of casualties.

Among the dead were:

URabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg, 29, and his wife, Rivkah, 28. They were killed in an attack on the ultra-Orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch movement’s center in Mumbai, Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin said in New York. Officials could not confirm whether Rivkah Holtzberg was, like her husband, an American citizen.

UBentzion Chroman, an Israeli with dual U.S. citizenship who was visiting the center.

URabbi Leibish Teitlebaum of Brooklyn, N.Y., who was visiting the center.

UAlan Scherr, 58, and daughter Naomi, 13, of Virginia, who died in a cafe Wednesday night. They lived at the Synchronicity Foundation sanctuary about 15 miles southwest of Charlottesville, Va., and were among 25 foundation participants in a spiritual program in Mumbai, said Bobbie Garvey, a spokeswoman for the foundation, which promotes a form of meditation.