Who are the Deccan Mujahideen? Attacks bear al Qaeda hallmarks, but so far no link

so far no link
BY WILLIAM SHERMAN DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Updated Thursday, November 27th 2008, 1:46 PM
Maharahstra Times/AP
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Western intelligence agencies are trying to identify just who is behind the Mumbai terror attacks and the specific motivation for the bloody assaults.
For now, all intelligence agencies have is a the name of a group - Deccan Mujahideen - that is claiming credit for the attacks.
The word Deccan means South in Hindi and refers to the Deccan Plateau. which encompasses three states in the South of India.
Mujahideen means "strugglers" in Arabic, but is also the word used by militant groups referring to fighters, members, and terrorists. The Deccan group sent emails to Indian media outlets claiming responsibility.
Beyond that, it appears the terrorists, men nearly all in their early 20s, speak both Hindi and Urdu, respectively the national languages of India and Pakistan.
Indian and British officials are not ruling out a link between the Mumbai attackers and Al Qaeda, but the assault is not typical of the group, which generally favors suicide bombings.
In this case, the Mumbai attackers, armed with grenades, assault rifles, and other weaponry, attacked in highly organized combat groups with no apparent suicides.
A highly unusual feature of the Mumbai assault is that the terrorists came in the from the sea, apparently using a freighter to get close to the Mumbai shore. Then the terrorists used small, high-speed boats for their landing.
The freighter apparently came to the Indian coast from Karachi Pakistan, according to an Indian Navy spokesman and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh blamed "external forces" for the attack.
The freighter was identified as by MV Alpha.
India is predominantly Hindu while the vast majority of Pakistanis are Muslim and the enmity between the two countries dates back fifty years with their founding and independence granted by England
Pakistan's Port and Shipping Minister Nabil Gabol said Indian authorities had not asked him for information about MV Alpha's port of origin.
He said that Indian references to Karachi as the ship's base was a "false allegation."
Pakistani Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar condemned the attack.
"We should not be blamed like in the past," he warned.
"This will destroy all the goodwill we created together after years of bitterness," he told The Associated Press
"I will say in very categoric terms that Pakistan is not involved in these gory incidents."