8/8/2019 The 1993 Bombay Bombings Were a Series of 13 Bomb Explosions That Took Place in Bombay

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-1993-bombay-bombings-were-a-series-of-13-bomb-explosions-that-took-place 1/11

The 1993 Bombay bombings were a series of 13 bomb explosions that took place inBombay (now Mumbai ), Maharashtra , India on 12 March 1993. [3] The coordinatedattacks were the most destructive bomb explosions in Indian history. The single-dayattacks resulted in up to 250 civilian fatalities and 700 injuries .[4]

The attacks were coordinated by Dawood Ibrahim ,[5]

don of the Bombay-basedinternational organized crime syndicate named D-Company , which had also operated asa terrorist organization. [6][7]

Ibrahim is believed to have ordered and helped organize the bombings in Bombay,through one of his subordinates, Tiger Memon . The bombings are also believed to have

been financially assisted by the expatriate Indian smugglers, Hajji Ahmed, Hajji Umar and Taufiq Jaliawala, as well as the Pakistani smugglers, Aslam Bhatti and Dawood Jatt.The Indian authorities have also alleged the involvement of the Pakistani intelligenceagency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the blasts. [7]

It is believed that the attacks were carried out in retaliation for the enormous Muslimcasualties and widespread damage to the Muslim owned businesses and properties whichoccurred during the Hindu-Muslim riots in Bombay on December 1992 and January1993, in the fall-out of the demolition of the Babri Mosque .[8]

Contents

[hide ]

• 1 Preludeo 1.1 Backgroundo 1.2 Confession of Gul Mohammed

• 2 The bombings• 3 Aftermath• 4 Arrests, convictions and verdict

o 4.1 The Memonso 4.2 The Planterso 4.3 Accused involvedo 4.4 Landing agentso 4.5 Customs officialso 4.6 Policemeno 4.7 Sanjay Dutt and friendso 4.8 Others

• 5 Popular culture• 6 See also• 7 References

• 8 External links

8/8/2019 The 1993 Bombay Bombings Were a Series of 13 Bomb Explosions That Took Place in Bombay

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-1993-bombay-bombings-were-a-series-of-13-bomb-explosions-that-took-place 2/11

[edit ] Prelude

[edit ] Background

In December 1992 and January 1993, there was widespread rioting in Mumbai followingthe 6 December destruction of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya by extreme Hindu groups.Although there was no loss of life in the incident at the Babri Mosque, a series of riots soon erupted throughout the nation, most notably in Bombay. After five years followingthe December–January riots, the Srikrishna Commission Report stated that nine hundredindividuals lost their lives and over two thousand were injured, most of them Muslim , inthe riots. [9]

[edit ] Confession of Gul Mohammed

Three days before the bombings took place on 9 March 1993, a small time hood from theBehrampada slum in North east Bombay named Gul Noor Mohammad Sheikh a.k.a"Gullu" was detained at the Nav Pada police station. A participant in the communal riotsthat had rocked Bombay the previous year, Gullu was also one of the 19 men handpicked

by the gold smuggler and chief mastermind, Tiger Memon and sent to Pakistan via Dubai on 19 February 1993 , for training of the use of arms and bomb making. [10]

Upon completion of his training, Gullu returned to Bombay via Dubai on 4 March 1993,only to find that in his absence the police had picked up his brothers to get him tosurrender. In a vain attempt to secure his brothers' release, Gullu surrendered to the

police. He confessed to his role in the riots, his training in Pakistan, and a conspiracyunderway to bomb major locations around the city, including the Bombay Stock Exchange , Sahar International Airport and the Shiv Sena Bhavan . However, hisconspiracy claim was dismissed by the police as "mere bluff". [10]

The arrest of Gul Mohammed spurred Tiger Memon to advance the date of the blastswhich were to coincide with the Shiv Jayanti celebrations in April 1993 to 12 March to

pre-empt any police action. [10] [11]

[edit ] The bombings

At 1:30 p.m. a powerful car bomb exploded in the basement of the Bombay Stock Exchange building. The 28-story office building housing the exchange was severely

damaged, and many nearby office buildings also suffered some damage. About 50 werekilled by this explosion. [12] About 30 minutes later, another car bomb exploded elsewherein the city, and from 1:30 p.m. to 3:40 p.m. a total of 13 bombs exploded throughoutBombay. Most of the bombs were car bombs, but some were in scooters .[13]

Three hotels, the Hotel Sea Rock, Hotel Juhu Centaur, and Hotel Airport Centaur, weretargeted by suitcase bombs left in rooms booked by the perpetrators. [14] Banks, theregional passport office, hotels, the Air India Building, and a major shopping complex

8/8/2019 The 1993 Bombay Bombings Were a Series of 13 Bomb Explosions That Took Place in Bombay

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-1993-bombay-bombings-were-a-series-of-13-bomb-explosions-that-took-place 3/11

were also hit. Bombs exploded at Zaveri Bazaar, area opposite of Century Bazaar, KathaBazaar, Shiv Sena Bhawan, and Plaza Theatre. A jeep-bomb at the Century Bazaar exploded early, thwarting another attack .[15] Grenades were also thrown at Sahar International Airport and at Fishermen's Colony, apparently targeting Hindus at the latter.[16] A double decker bus was very badly damaged in one of the explosions and that single

incident accounted for the greatest loss of life – perhaps up to ninety people were killed.[15]

Locations attacked include

• Fisherman's Colony in Mahim causeway [17]

• Zaveri Bazaar [14]

• Plaza Cinema [14]

• Century Bazaar [14]

• Katha Bazaar [14]

• Hotel Sea Rock [14]

•

Sahar Airport[14]

• Air India Building [14]

• Hotel Juhu Centaur [14]

• Plaza Theatre near Shiv Sena HQ [18]

• Lucky Petrol near Shiv Sena HQ [18]

• Worli [19]

• Bombay Stock Exchange Building [12]

• Hotel Centaur, Santa Cruz [18]

• Area opposite of Century Bazaar [15]

• Passport Office [20]

[edit ] AftermathThe official number of dead was 257 with 1,400 others injured (some news sources say317 people died; [21] this is due to a bomb which killed 60 in Calcutta on 17 March [22]).Several days later, unexploded car bombs were discovered at a railway station. Terroristgroups based in Pakistan were suspected to be responsible for these bombings, andevidence uncovered pointed to the involvement of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim .

On 25 August 2003, two large and destructive bombs left in taxis exploded in southMumbai – the Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar in the busy Kalbadevi area – killing52 people, again entirely Hindus and wounding more than a hundred others. Two

Pakistan based militant groups, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Toiba , were found to be responsible for the attacks. Along with the July 2006 train bombings in Mumbai, theseattacks are believed to be in retaliation for the 2002 Gujarat riots in which more than athousand persons, mostly Muslims were killed, [23] though the Gujarat government deniessuch a connection. [24]

On 11 July 2006, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra during the blasts, Sharad Pawar , admitted, on record, that he had "deliberately misled" people following the 1993 Bombay

8/8/2019 The 1993 Bombay Bombings Were a Series of 13 Bomb Explosions That Took Place in Bombay

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-1993-bombay-bombings-were-a-series-of-13-bomb-explosions-that-took-place 4/11

blasts by saying there were "12 and not 11" explosions, adding the name of a Muslim-dominated locality to show that people from both communities had been affected .[25] Hetried to justify this deception by claiming that it was a move to prevent communal riots

by falsely portraying that both Hindu and Muslim communities in the city had beenaffected adversely. He also admits to lying about evidence recovered and misleading

people into believing that some of it pointed to the Tamil Tigers as possible suspects.[25]

The bombings also caused a major rift within the D-Company , the most powerfulcriminal organization in the Mumbai underworld headed by Dawood Ibrahim . Infuriatedat the bombings, Ibrahim's right hand man Chotta Rajan split from the organization,taking most of the leadership-level Hindu aides such as Sadhu Shetty , Jaspal Singh andMohan Kotiyan with him. Rajan's split divided the Mumbai underworld along communallines and pitted Chotta Rajan's predominantly Hindu gang against Dawood Ibrahim's

predominantly Muslim D-Company. The ensuing gang war took the lives of more than ahundred gangsters and continues to this day. [26] Seven of the accused (Salim Kurla,Majeed Khan, Shakil Ahmed, Mohammed Jindran, Hanif Kadawala, Akbar Abu Sama

Khan and Mohammed Latif) were systematically assassinated by Chotta Rajan's hitmen.[27][ 28]

[edit ] Arrests, convictions and verdict

Many hundreds of people were arrested and detained in Indian courts. In 2006, 100 of the129 finally accused were found to be guilty and were convicted by the speciallydesignated TADA court. Many of the 100 are still missing including the mainconspirators and masterminds of the attacks – Tiger Memon and Dawood Ibrahim . On 12September 2006, the special TADA court hearing the case convicted four members of theMemon family for their involvement in the 1993 Bombay bombings .[29]

Three other members of the Memon family were acquitted by the special TADA courtwith the judge giving them the benefit of doubt .[29] The four members of the Memonfamily are being held after being found guilty on charges of conspiring and abetting actsof terror. [30] All four of them face jail terms from five years in prison to lifeimprisonment, that will be determined based on the severity of their crime. [29] A day later,the TADA court announced that it would start pronouncing the verdict of the thirty-one

people charged with transporting and planting bombs.

Yakub Memon, the brother of prime accused Tiger Memon , was charged for possessionof unauthorised arms. After the blasts, family members of Tiger, including Yakub,

escaped from Bombay to Dubai and Pakistan . Correspondents say Tiger Memon owned arestaurant in Bombay and was allegedly closely associated with Dawood Ibrahim , thechief suspect. [31]

Except for Tiger and his brother Ayub, the entire family returned to India and were prompty arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in 1994. Since then, Yakub has been in custody and is undergoing treatment for depression. The Memon family was

8/8/2019 The 1993 Bombay Bombings Were a Series of 13 Bomb Explosions That Took Place in Bombay

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-1993-bombay-bombings-were-a-series-of-13-bomb-explosions-that-took-place 5/11

subsequently tried in court and found guilty of conspiracy. The defence lawyers haveasked for leniency in the sentencing and have caused delays in the process .[31]

Two of the accused, Mohammed Umar Khatlab and Badshah Khan (pseudonym given bythe prosecution to hide his real identity) turned state approvers. [28]

Dawood Ibrahim , believed to have masterminded the terrorist attacks, is the Don of theMumbai organised crime syndicate D-Company , largely consisting of Muslims . He issuspected of having connections to several Pakistan based terrorist groups ,[32] such as al-Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden ,[33] as well as Lashkar-e-Toiba [34] and wasdeclared a terrorist by the governments of India and the United States in 2003. Ibrahim isnow wanted by Interpol as a part of the worldwide terror syndicate of Osama bin Laden .[35] He has been in hiding since the blasts and is believed to be hiding in Pakistan , whichthe Pakistani government denies .[36] The Bush administration in the United Statesimposed sanctions on Ibrahim in 2006. [37]

The penalty stage of the longest running trial in India's history is still ongoing. InFebruary 2007, prosecutors asked for the death penalty for forty-four of the hundredconvicted. The prosecution also requested the death penalty for those convicted of conspiracy in the case .[38]

[edit ] The Memons

Yakub Memon has spent approximately 15+ years in prison. He was sentencedto death by hanging by the Judge , Ashish Roy Pillai.

• Convicted for conspiracy.•

Arranging finance and managing its disbursement through co-accused, Mulchand Shah and from a firm, Tejarath International, owned by absconding accused, and brother, Ayub Memon to achieve objectivesof conspiracy.• Arranged for air tickets through Altafali Mushtaqali Sayyed, EastWest travels for the youths who were sent for arms and ammunitiontraining to Pakistan. Also made arrangements for their lodging and

boarding.• Purchased motor vehicles which were used while planting bombs.• Requested co-accused, Amjadali Meherbux and Altafali Sayyed, tostore suitcases containing arms, ammunition, hand grenades and

detonators.

Essa and Yusuf Memon , brothers of Yakub.

• Both were charged for allowing their flat in Al-Hussaini building,Mahim to be used for hosting conspiracy meetings as well as storage of arms and explosives.

8/8/2019 The 1993 Bombay Bombings Were a Series of 13 Bomb Explosions That Took Place in Bombay

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-1993-bombay-bombings-were-a-series-of-13-bomb-explosions-that-took-place 6/11

• Essa has already spent about 13 years in prison. He was sentencedto life imprisonment for his role in the bombings on October 2006 .[39]

• Yusuf is a chronic schizophrenia patient, but has spent less than ayear in prison. He had also allowed use of his van for planting bombs.Yusuf was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the attacks, but

granted bail on medical grounds stipulating that he would remain inhospital for treatment. [40]

Rubina Memon . Her Maruti car was the first piece of evidence in the trial. Shewas convicted for allowing the use of her Maruti van, registered on her name, byother accused, who had delivered the explosives and awarded a life sentence. [41]

Three members of the Memon family - Suleiman , Hanifa and Raheen wereacquitted with the judge giving them the benefit of doubt .[42]

[edit ] The Planters

Prosecution has sought the death sentence for all except Imtiaz Ghavate as he is HIV positive . The prosecution has sought a lesser sentence for him.

Shoaib Ghansar planted an RDX-laden scooter in Zaveri Bazaar that killed 17and injured 57 others

• He was also guilty of filling RDX in the scooter the previous nightat Al-Hussaini building that killed 17 people and injured 57. He is Asghar Mukadam's cousin.• He was sentenced to death by the court on the counts of murder and participating in terrorist act [43] on 19 July 2007 [44]

Asghar Mukadam planted an RDX -laden van in Plaza Cinema with ShahnawazQureshi that killed 10 and injured 37 others

• Participated in the loading of RDX in vehicles, on 11 March• Collected money from Mulchand Shah and facilitatingdisbursement of money to other accused• Sentenced to death on 19 July 2007. [43]

Shahnawaz Qureshi planted an RDX-laden van at Plaza Cinema with Asghar Mukadam, killing 10 and injuring 37others

• Guilty of taking arms training in Pakistan via Dubai and of loadingthe contraband in Al-Hussaini building on 11 March 1993.• Sentenced to death on 19 July 2007. [43]

Abdul Ghani Turk , guilty of parking RDX-laden jeep at Century Bazaar killing113 and injuring 227

8/8/2019 The 1993 Bombay Bombings Were a Series of 13 Bomb Explosions That Took Place in Bombay

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-1993-bombay-bombings-were-a-series-of-13-bomb-explosions-that-took-place 7/11

• Filling RDX in vehicles killing 113 and injuring 227• Sentenced to death on 18 July 2007. [45]

Parvez Shaikh , guilty of parking a bomb in Katha Bazaar that killed four.

•

Guilty of planting bomb in Hotel Sea Rock, destroying propertyworth nine crores.• Sentenced to death on 18 July 2007. [45]

Mohammed Iqbal Mohammed Yusuf Shaikh , convicted for throwing handgrenades in Sahar airport; parking an unexploded RDX-laden scooter in Naigaon

• Obtaining arms training in Pakistan, loading RDX in vehicles onthe night of 11 March• Sentenced to death on 20 July 2007. [46]

Naseem Barmare , guilty of hurling hand grenades at Sahar airport.• Parking unexploded scooter at Naigaum.• Acquiring weapon training in Pakistan.• Participating in conspiracy meetings• Preparing vehicle bombs.• Sentenced to life imprisonment and slapped and fined Rs.2,30,000. [47]

Mohammed Farooq Pawale planted an RDX-laden car at Air-India buildingkilling 20 and injuring 84.

• Parking an RDX-laden van near Sena Bhavan with approver killing 4 and injuring 50• Participated in arms training in Pakistan• Participated in the landing of arms and ammunition at Shekhadi• Sentenced to death on 25 July 2007. [48]

Mushtaq Tarani participated in a meeting at hotel Taj Mahal. He did areconnaissance of the sites for the blasts.

• Planting at Hotel Juhu Centaur injuring 3 and causing loss of

property worth Rs 2.10 crore• Planting an unexploded scooter at Sheikh Memen street in ZaveriBazaar • Sentenced to death on 18 July 2007. [45]

Imtiaz Ghavate was the only one who did not face death planted unexplodedRDX-laden scooter at Dhanji street in South Bombay.

8/8/2019 The 1993 Bombay Bombings Were a Series of 13 Bomb Explosions That Took Place in Bombay

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-1993-bombay-bombings-were-a-series-of-13-bomb-explosions-that-took-place 8/11

• He also participated in the landing of RDX, arms and ammunitionat Shekhadi. He was present at the Al Husseini building, where vehicle

bombs were readied.• Sentenced to life imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs. 2,27,000.[47]

[edit ] Accused involved

Mohammed Moin Qureshi, Feroz Amani Malik, Bashir Khairulla, Zakir Hussain andAbdul Akhtar Khan had pelted hand grendes in Mahim Causeway causing three deathsand injuring six. The driver Salim Shaikh , did not pelt any hand grenades.

Bashir Khairulla convicted for his participation in arms, ammunition andexplosives training conducted by Tiger Memon in Sandheri and Bhorghat

• Convicted for participating in the conspirator's meetings in the

house of Mubina Baya and for participating in the filling of RDX in thevehicles.• Sentenced to life imprionment on 20 July 2007. [49]

Zakir Hussain was convicted for participating in the arms, ammunition andweapon training in Pakistan, for participating in conspirator's meetings and

participating in the filling of RDX

• Sentenced to death on 24 July 2007. [50]

Abdul Akhtar Khan convicted for taking arms, ammunition and explosives

training in Pakistan.• Sentenced to death on 24 July 2007. [50]

Firoz Amani Malik convicted for taking arms, ammunition and explosivestraining in Pakistan

• Sentenced to death on 24 July 2007. [50]

Moin Qureshi convicted for participating in the arms, ammunition andexplosives training, participating in the conspirator's meeting and participating in

the filling of RDX in vehicles on 11 March.• Was also found guilty for being in possession of 17 hand grenades.• Sentenced to life imprisonment on 24 July 2007. [50]

[edit ] Landing agents

8/8/2019 The 1993 Bombay Bombings Were a Series of 13 Bomb Explosions That Took Place in Bombay

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-1993-bombay-bombings-were-a-series-of-13-bomb-explosions-that-took-place 9/11

Dawood Phanse a.k.a Dawood Taklya (Dawood Baldie). He is guilty of conspiracy, organizing the landing of arms, ammunition and the nearly 3,000 kgof RDX in 57 gunny bags at Shekhadi in Raigad district on 3 and 7 February1993; attending a conspiracy meeting in Dubai with Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon. [51]

• Initially, the prosecution had sought the death sentences, but due tohis old age, he was given two consecutive life sentences (to be servedconcurrently) and fined Rs 2 lakhs .[52][ 53]

Sharif Abdul Gafoor Parkar a.k.a Dadabhai , guilty of bribing officials and police at Raigad to assist in the landing of RDX, arms and ammunition atShekhadi, showed training camps at Sandheri and Bhor Ghat, transportation of consignment. [51] [53]

• Sentenced to 14 years imprisonment as he was aware of the

content of the contraband, but accquited of conspiracy. He was also finedRs. 2,00,000, defaulting which he would have to serve three more years. [53]

[edit ] Customs officials

S.N. Thapa , former additional customs collector, preventive

• Accused of being Guilty of conspiracy. Convicted for getting theinformation about the landing at Shekhadi and that the main exit pointcould be in Mhasla Shrivardhan area. He is alleged to have laid a trap atPurarphata on Mhasla-Goregaon road on 30 January. Besides that, his

team gave up the vigil after 2 February in spite of the warnings(confessions of co-accused in TADA Court shows that landing actuallytook place many days after team lead by Thapa had left for Mumbai) andthat the smugglers, in fact, postponed the landing as they heard fromsources that an ambush had been laid for them by Thapa. Theseaccusations stand to be the same even though confessions of othersconvicted say otherwise. To quote "He (Phanse) also confessed that theduo (Phanse and Parkar)bribed all Customs officers except for Thapa, whoincidentally is an accused in the case." .[54] In the 10,000 page judgementcopy provided, TADA Court judge, P.D. Kode resons that even thoughthere is no direct or in-direct evidence against Mr. S.N. Thapa, he is

awarded a term of life imprisonment because he was the seniormostcustoms officer and thus must be knowing about the conspiracy. Till hislast days, Thapa proclaimed his innocence and was confident that thegreater conspiracy of his wrongful arrest,trial and conviction would beunveiled in the Supreme Court who, in 1994 granted him bail after goingthrough all evidence stating that there is no direct or in-direct evidence to

prove that Mr. S.N. Thapa was part in planning, landing or transportation

8/8/2019 The 1993 Bombay Bombings Were a Series of 13 Bomb Explosions That Took Place in Bombay

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-1993-bombay-bombings-were-a-series-of-13-bomb-explosions-that-took-place 10/11

of contraband substances nor that was he aware of any such conspiracy for blasts in Mumbai. [55]

• S.N. Thapa died due to lung cancer on 11 April 2008. His familyexpressed hopes that the supreme court will entertain their quest for thetruth.

R K Singh , Former assistant commissioner of customs,

• convicted for facilitating RDX landing in Shekhadi after accepting bribe of more than 7.8 lakh Rupees.

• Had meetings with the accused.

Mohammed Sultan Sayyed , former customs superintendent.

• Convicted for facilitating RDX landing in Shekhadi after accepting bribe of more than 7.8 lakh.

•

Had attended meetings with the accused.

Jaywant Gurav , former customs inspector.

• Convicted for allowing passage of RDX from Raigad to Mumbai

S S Talwadekar , former customs superintendent.

• Convicted for allowing passage of RDX from Raigad to Mumbai

[edit ] Policemen

Vijay Patil , ex police sub-inspector

• Guilty of conspiracy and taking bribe to allow passage of RDXfrom Raigad to Mumbai• Has been sentenced to life imprisonment and 1 lakh rupees fine byTADA court on 22 May 2007

Ashok Muleshwar , P M Mahadik , Ramesh Mali and S Y Palshikar ; all PoliceConstables

•

Guilty of allowing passage of RDX of arms from Raigad toMumbai.• All four sentenced by TADA court to six years' imprisonment anda fine of Rs 25,000 each on 21 May 2007

[edit ] Sanjay Dutt and friends

Sanjay Dutt , convicted and sentenced to 6 years in prison for possessing arms.

8/8/2019 The 1993 Bombay Bombings Were a Series of 13 Bomb Explosions That Took Place in Bombay

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-1993-bombay-bombings-were-a-series-of-13-bomb-explosions-that-took-place 11/11

Yusuf Nulwalla , convicted for trying to destroy Sanjay's arms. He has beensentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment with two years further for destroying the arms. Also, he has to pay Rs 25,000 as fine.Kersi Adejania , convicted for trying to destroy Sanjay's arms. He has beensentence to two years rigorous imprisonment. He too has been slapped with a fine

of Rs. 25,000 fine.Rusi Mulla , convicted for trying to destroy Sanjay's arms. He has been freed bythe court but has to pay Rs. 1 lakh to the court.All four have been convicted under Arms Act and had applied for release under Probation of Offenders Act

[edit ] Others

Zaibunnisa Kadri guilty for storing AK-56 and hand grenades at the instance of Anees Ibrahim and Abu Salem, she faces a minimum of five years RI.Mansoor Ahmed convicted for carrying weapons from Sanjay Dutt's house to co-

accused's house has already spent 9 years in prisonSamir Hingora convicted for conspiracy .[56] For supplying 3 AK-56 rifles, itsmagazines and ammunition, hand grenades to Sanjay Dutt's residence as told to

by Anis Ibrahim. Prosecution has sought the death sentenceIbrahim Musa Chauhan alias Baba Chauhan convicted for supplying AK-56rifles, its magazines, ammunition, and hand grenades to Sanjay Dutt and SalimKurla as told to by Anis Ibrahim. He was also convicted for being in unauthorised

possession of one AK 56 rifles, 635 ammunition, 10 magazines, and 25 handgrenades, which were recovered by the policeEjaz Pathan extradited from Dubai in 2003, participated in Dubai meetings,

provided men for landing of arms and ammunition at Shekhadi, for being in

possession of arms and sending youth to Dubai for arms training.[57]