(AFP) – Sep 14, 2008

NEW DELHI (AFP) — Indian police identified Monday two suspects behind bomb blasts in New Delhi that left more than 20 dead, as the media flayed the government for lacking a coherent counter-terrorism policy.

Police in the western state of Gujarat said two men wanted for a similar series of blasts in the city of Ahmedabad in July may have played a significant role in Saturday's attacks in the Indian capital.

One of the suspects, identified as Qayamuddin, "could have been involved in planting the bombs," said Gujarat's Joint Commissioner of Police Ashish Bhatia.

The other, Abdul Subhan, a computer expert from Mumbai, was "also likely to be involved in the Delhi blasts," Bhatia told AFP.

The attacks in both Ahmedabad and Delhi were claimed by the Indian Mujahideen, a shadowy Muslim militant group that taunted police Saturday with an email saying "stop us if you can."

The Delhi blasts were the fourth in a major Indian city in as many months, and refuelled debate over the ability of the security and intelligence forces to prevent such attacks and bring those responsible to justice.

"We are at war," was the blunt assessment of an editorial in the Times of India. "When a country is at war, there cannot be any half measures to hit back and contain the enemy."

The newspaper said the time had come for India's political parties to cast aside their differences and "put their heads together to figure out a counter-strategy for which consensus will be essential."

In 2004, India's new Congress-led government scrapped an anti-terror law introduced by its Hindu nationalist predecessor after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

The Congress argued that the legislation, which gave sweeping powers to the police, was being misused to settle political scores.

At the time, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh vowed that repealing the law would not weaken the country's ability to combat terrorism, but the recent spate of attacks has challenged that assertion.

"More than four years into its term, the government's record on this account is looking even more shocking," the Indian Express newspaper said.

"They have simply not done enough to bring closure to any of the terrorist incidents of the past four years, to follow leads thoroughly, to crack the organisations behind the incidents," the Express said.

The Hindustan Times accused the government and opposition of being too willing to "woefully sacrifice national consensus against a common enemy" at the altar of political one-upmanship.

"Going by the way we conduct our post-attack investigations and put into place barriers against future attacks, one would be forgiven for thinking we are new to terrorism," it said.

Police said the death toll from Saturday's blasts had risen to 22, while some of the scores injured remained in critical condition.

The toll could have been higher as three more bombs were defused, including a device found near India Gate, one of the country's most iconic monuments and a major tourist attraction in the heart of Delhi.

The emergence of the Indian Mujahideen has forced authorities to confront the spectre of a home-grown militant force -- having previously blamed neighbouring Pakistan for orchestrating most attacks on Indian soil.

However, Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony suggested Monday that the group may yet be found to have links with Pakistan.

"Militants are getting support from across the border and it is a fact," he told reporters.

Security experts have said the formation of the Indian Mujahideen may be an effort to create a fresh identity for groups banned by the Indian government over the past few years such as the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

SIMI, founded over 30 years ago, was outlawed in 2001 over its alleged terror links and is currently challenging the ban in the Supreme Court.

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