* WHAT WAS DIFFERENT ABOUT THE MUMBAI ATTACKS?

All previous incidents in which the Indian Mujahideen are suspected of involvement involved co-ordinated serial bombs.

The Mumbai attacks also show clear signs of coordination but were carried out by gunmen, some carrying grenades.

The tactics -- a military-style assault on soft targets, singling out foreigners, and taking hostages -- is rare and does not fit the usual methods of militant attacks on civilian areas.

However, similar attacks have been carried out before, notably the May 2004 attacks in the eastern Saudi city of Khobar.

Gunmen attacked two oil industry installations and a foreign workers' housing complex in the city, taking more than 50 hostages and killing 22 of them. The attackers asked hostages whether they were Christian or Muslim before deciding whom to kill.