NEW DELHI — "Keep your phone switched on," a handler instructs a gunman by phone in the midst of the Mumbai siege, "so that we can hear the gunfire."

The ruthless commands come from a transcript of phone calls Indian authorities say they intercepted during the attacks in November. India says the men issuing orders, reprimands and encouragement to the young gunmen were Pakistani-based militants directing the attacks by mobile phone.

The men on the phone were confident, direct — and brutal.

"We have three foreigners, including women," a gunman said into the phone from the Oberoi Hotel where hostages had been captured.

"Kill them," replied the handler. Gunshots then rang out, followed by cheering that could be heard over the phone.

"Inflict the maximum damage," they said.

The transcripts were part of a dossier of evidence India has given Pakistan this week that India says definitively proves that the siege that killed 164 people was launched from across the border. India says the 10 gunmen were all Pakistani and has blamed the Pakistani-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The Mumbai transcripts were translated from Punjabi into English by Indian authorities and obtained by the newspaper The Hindu. The newspaper gave the transcripts to The Associated Press on Wednesday.

They show the 10 gunmen, who allegedly were trained in Lashkar camps, received instructions throughout the siege.

"If you are still threatened, then don't saddle yourself with the burden of the hostages. Immediately kill them," a handler tells a team of gunmen who had seized a Mumbai Jewish center, according to the transcript.

Six Jewish foreigners, including a rabbi and his wife, were killed inside the building.

The gunmen were told several times not to kill any Muslim hostages.

The attacks against iconic Mumbai targets were covered by news channels worldwide, allowing the handlers to use TV reports to guide the gunmen, the dossier says.

The dossier also included photographs of dozens of items recovered in the attacks, including global positioning system units, mobile phones, guns and explosives as well as data gleaned from satellite phones and details from the interrogation of the lone surviving gunman.

But the strongest — and most chilling — evidence that the gunmen were not acting alone came from the phone transcripts.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Tuesday that Pakistani authorities must have had a hand in the siege. Lashkar is widely believed to be a 1980s creation of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency to pressure India over the disputed area of Kashmir.

Pakistan denies the allegation.

Pakistani Information Minister Sherry Rehman did say Wednesday that the lone surviving gunman was a Pakistani citizen, after weeks of refusing to confirm India's claims on his nationality. Islamabad had previously said it could not find the surviving gunman, Ajmal Kasab, in its databases.




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