Headley pens 26/11 memoir in jail
New York:
Chronicles LeT Training, Planning For Mum Attacks
Pakistani-American LeT terrorist David Headley, serving 35 years for his role in the 2611 Mumbai attacks, has written a memoir in prison detailing how Lashkar's “dedication“ to the cause of the “liberation of Kashmir“ inspired him to join the terror group. American public affairs TV programme Frontline was given access to a draft of the memoir that Headley , 54, wrote in jail.
Excerpts from the draft offer a “unique window“ into Headley's turn toward extremism, his training with Lashkar-e-Taiba and his preparations for attack on Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
In one of the passages in the memoir, Headley writes about his first encounter with LeT militants in October 2000.“On one of my trips, October 2000, I made my first contact with LeT, quite by accident. I attended their annual convention in November. I was very impressed with their dedication to the cause of the liberation of Kashmir from Indian occupation,“ Headley writes.
He then writes about the terror attack on Mumbai.“The plan was to capture an Indian fishing vessel, which constantly strayed into Pakis tani waters, and commandeer it all the way to Mumbai. The hope was that the Indian Coast Guard would not notice an Indian vessel. The boys would carry a GPS device which would guide them directly to the landing site, I had selected earlier,“ he writes.
Headley also details about his decision to join Lashkar “full time“ following the 911 attacks, and says that by 2002 the group asked him to take the “Daura Aamma“, the basic military training course offered by LeT.“ In 2005, LeT asked him to change his name from Dawood Gilani to a “Christian sounding name“ so that he could travel easily between the US, India and Pakistan.
Describing the training he got at Lashkar camps, Headley writes “we hid most of the day in caves and under trees, while we were given instructions“.He says most of the “practical aspects“ of the lessons were carried out at night and during the course, he was trained in “infiltration, survival, camouflage, raidambush tactics, hide out, hiding and retrieving weapons caches, more than a dozen night marches, target practice with AK-47 and 9 mm pistol, RPG, grenades, among other training. He started leaning more about his religion “as part of my change.“
On the plans to attack the Danish newspaper, he says that after the 2611 attack he was told to “lay low.“ Instead, he eventually connected with al-Qaida and with the assistance of a contact he travelled to Denmark to scout the Jyllands-Posten newspaper for a possible strike.
Headley pens 26/11 memoir in jail
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