Pranay Prabhakar the spokesman for the Western Railway confirmed that seven blasts

Pranay Prabhakar, the spokesman for the Western Railway, confirmed that seven blasts had taken place. He said all trains had been suspended in Mumbai, and he appealed to the public to stay away from the train stations in the city of 16 million, India’s financial and commercial centre and principal port on the Arabian sea. Police were also reportedly carrying out raids across the country following the explosions, presumably in search of suspects One television report said a suspect was in custody. A senior Mumbai police official, PS Pasricha, said the explosions were part of a well-co-ordinated attack.

Witnesses reported seeing body parts strewn about stations, and Indian television news channels broadcast footage of bystanders carrying victims to ambulances and searching through the wreckage for survivors and bodies. “The official information is that these are bomb explosions,” the minister said. Home Minister Shivraj Patil told reporters that authorities had “some” information an attack was coming, “but place and time was not known.” Vilasrao Deshmukh, the chief minister of Maharashtra state, where Mumbai is located, said bombs had caused the blasts. Our first priority is to rescue the injured people,” he said However, heavy monsoon downpours were hampering the effort. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called an emergency Cabinet meeting, and said that “terrorists” were behind the attacks. Mumbai Police Chief AN Roy said on Indian television 100 people were feared killed and more than 300 injured “We are busy in the rescue operation.

Hamas is reportedly seeking immediate negotiations on the prisoners to be freed rather than accept a guarantee from Mr Mubarak.. Seven explosions rocked Mumbai’s commuter rail network during today’s evening rush hour, killing at least 105 people and injuring 300, officials said. India’s major cities were put on high alert after the blasts.
Chaos erupted throughout Mumbai’s crowded rail network following the explosions, and authorities struggled to determine how many people had been killed and injured. Mr Mubarak would in effect be the guarantor to Hamas that Israel would reciprocate some time after the release of Cpl Shalit.Some Israeli officials pointed to the reference in Sunday’s cabinet communiqu?o seeking “new rules of conduct vis-?is the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas government” and implied a possible outcome might be a comprehensive ceasefire in which Cpl Shalit would be released, the Qassam attacks halted, an Israel pull-back from Gaza and some prisoners freed at a later date.Mr Meshal yesterday said that Cpl Shalit was a “prisoner of war” and that he should be treated according to international conventions governing PoW. That is the choice.”Mr Olmert’s assertion that it would be a “major mistake” to negotiate prisoner releases with Hamas was countered by Mr Meshal’s declaration: “The solution is simple: a [prisoner] exchange. But Israel refuses that”, and appeared to point to an unbridgeable gap between the two sides.But Mr Olmert’s chosen formulation did not appear to rule out the possibility of negotiations with an intermediary such as the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, under which prisoners might be released at some future date if Cpl Shalit was first released and the Qassam rocket attacks on Israel halted.Although the Interior Minister, Avi Dichter, has reportedly been rebuked for suggesting as much on Friday, Israel has yet to deny the assertion by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, last week that Mr Olmert had indicated to Mr Mubarak he was prepared to make such a deal. This government is terror,” he said the Palestinian people had to decide whether to be ruled by such a government or “by a civilised government prepared to make compromises based on reasonable agreements that can lead to peace between us and them.