Alleged Israeli attacker in Delhi 'framed'

Lawyers acting for the man suspected of helping attack an Israeli diplomat in New Delhi said their client was framed by police. Police investigating the terrorist attack on an Israeli diplomat's car last month are holding an Indian journalist who worked for an Iranian publication, The Times of India reported. Syed Mohammad Ahmad Kazmi, 50, was arrested at his home in south Delhi. He is alleged to be part of an Iranian group behind the attack Feb. 13. Police took two personal computers, a laptop computer, his car and cell phone, as well as $1,250 in cash, the Times report said. Kazmi allegedly helped with logistics, including conducting reconnaissance missions of the Israeli Embassy and providing his car to the bombers, unnamed sources told The Times. Kazmi also reportedly confessed to helping the bombers. But Kazmi's lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, told a court in Delhi that police forged documents related to the timing of his arrest. Aggarwal said he wanted an investigation into police procedures concerning his client's arrest. He said police hadn't produced in court the required paperwork and the lawyer contended his client was illegally arrested. The court remanded Kazmi in police custody for 20 days, the Times reported. The case has possible links to other suspected coordinated attacks on Israeli diplomats in Bangkok and Tbilisi, Georgia. The public prosecutor said Kazmi "is one of the conspirators in this wider conspiracy" in what appears to be a case of international terrorism. "It is not necessarily only Indians involved in the case, there is a possibility that some foreign nationals might be involved," public prosecutor Rajiv Mohan told the court. Kazmi is alleged to have helped the suspect conduct reconnaissance of the Israeli Embassy to gain knowledge about the arrival and departure of diplomats, police said. Kazmi also is suspected of having been in touch with a person believed to have attached a magnetic bomb on an Israeli diplomat's car. The wife of an Israeli diplomat suffered shrapnel wounds and three other people were injured when the bomb exploded. Police managed to diffuse a bomb on the underside of an embassy car in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. In Bangkok, a suspected bombing attempt went wrong, with three suspects fleeing police through crowded streets. One of the suspects had his legs blown off when a small bomb he threw at police exploded near him. Israel was quick to condemn the attacks on their diplomats. "Iran is behind these attacks and it is the largest terror exporter in the world," Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said.