Mumbai attacks plotter points finger at Pakistan

[Hindustani]

Mumbai terror trial hears claim that ISI and LeT coordinated with each other​

David Headley testified he received training and guidance from Pakistani intelligence in run-up to 2008 attacks


A Pakistani-American businessman who scouted out targets for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks has told a US court that he received training and guidance from Pakistani intelligence officials in the lead-up to the attacks in India's financial capital, which claimed the lives of more than 160 people.

Testifying in the trial of a Chicago businessman accused of helping to plan the attacks, David Headley said that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) and the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) coordinated with each other.

After pleading guilty last year to charges of being a co-conspirator in the attacks, which were carried out by LeT militants, he has taken the stand as a star witness in the case against Tahawwur Rana, a Pakistan-born Canadian citizen.

His trial is being closely watched for what testimony might reveal about suspected links between LeT and the ISI, which has come under increased scrutiny since Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces on 2 May near the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

Headley described his initial contacts and training with LeT on repeated trips to Pakistan and said he was introduced to a retired Pakistani military officer at a mosque.

The 50-year-old also said the LeT militants consulted with Pakistani intelligence officials on a number of matters.

"These groups operated under the umbrella of ISI … they coordinated with ISI," Headley testified under questioning.

He said that that he had received weapons and leadership training with LeT since 2000 and it was his understanding that the group and the ISI helped each other.

"They coordinated with each other and ISI provided assistance to Lashkar," said Headley.

Rana, who denies the charges against him, is accused of using his immigration services firm in Chicago to provide a cover story for Headley's scouting work and to serve as a conduit for communication with militants.

US prosecutor Sarah Streicker said that although Rana did not carry a gun or throw a grenade, he was complicit in the violence in Mumbai.

"He not only knew of the attacks, he approved of them, and agreed with them," Streicker said in her opening statement to the jury in the US District Court in Chicago.

Some Pakistanis accused in the case but not in US custody knew about Rana and were "appreciative of his assistance," she said.

At one point after the 2008 attack, Streicker said Rana told Headley "the Indians deserved it."

Headley told he court he had wanted to wage war against India in the disputed territory of Kashmir and was told he would get another assignment after Mumbai. He was directed to change his given name, Daood Gilani, to ease travel in India.

Arrested on a trip to Pakistan's northeast while seeking a contact who could help smuggle weapons into India, Headley said he was freed after explaining his connection to LeT by an ISI officer named "Major Ali."

He also told the court that he had suggested to an LeT operations chief named Zaki that a lawsuit be filed against the United States for labelling LeT a terrorist organization.

"Zaki said we would have to take ISI into confidence before making such a move … He meant to consult with ISI," he said.

Headley, who has been convicted twice of importing heroin into the US and is a former informant for the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), said he sold his alcohol shop in New York in September 2001 and sent the proceeds to Rana, who became his confidant.

A defence lawyer for Rana challenged Headley's credibility, suggesting that he changed his story repeatedly to his advantage and duped Rana.

"Headley told his own wife after the attack that 'I acknowledge that I made a fool out of him'," said the lawyer, Charles Swift.

Rana and Headley were also charged with participating in a second plot with Pakistani militants. That plot, never carried out, allegedly targeted a Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.


Mumbai terror trial hears claim that ISI and LeT coordinated with each other | World news | The Guardian

 

[Hindustani]

Terror case witness describes Pakistani intelligence-militant links
​

The balding, Washington D.C.-born, military school drop-out squinted pensively Monday, darting his eyes around a federal courtroom.

Then in a mumbling monotone and a hint of a patrician South Asian accent, David Coleman Headley nonchalantly revealed how both militants and members of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency separately gave him identical instructions for scouting and surveilling locations for the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.

“They coordinated with each other,” Headley said, describing what he believed to be Lashkar-e-Taiba militants’ and the government organization’s cozy relationship.

“ISI provided assistance to Lashkar” through military and financial assistance and moral support, he continued.

He was detailing inner-workings of an overseas terror group, but Headley remained as casual as the baby blue polo and dark windbreaker he wore in U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber’s courtroom.

Headley’s characterization of LeT and the ISI working in concert was a stunning admission given outstanding questions of the Pakistani intelligence agency’s possible role in helping protect Osama bin Laden as he hid in Pakistan before he was killed by U.S. forces on May 2.

Headley, 50, is the star prosecution witness in the terror case against his former classmate Tahawwur Rana, a Pakistani trained doctor-turned businessman who emigrated to Chicago from Canada in 1995. Headley was the first witness called by the federal government in a trial that brought tight security and a throng of reporters from around the globe.

Rana, also 50, is accused of allowing Headley to open a fake Mumbai-based office using his immigration business’ name as a cover so Headley could inspect potential sites to attack while he was in India. They’re also accused in a separate plot targeting a Danish newspaper that published a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

Headley, who spent his formative years in Pakistan, has already pleaded guilty for his role in the bloody rampage that killed over 160 people.

After training with the LeT between 2001 and 2004, the pale-skinned Headley, who was born Daood Gilani, said the group’s leaders encouraged him that with his American background, he could easily hide his Islamic faith and Pakistani ties and gain access to India without much suspicion.

“I wanted to be launched into Indian occupied Kashmir,” said Headley, who said he was motivated to perform jihad to help the “needy and oppressed” Muslims.

But Zaki Rehman, LeT’s operational commander assured him they would find something “better and more suitable,” Headley said.

During four hours of testimony Monday, Headley quietly told Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Collins how he met with ISI’s Major Mazhar Iqbal and the purported Mumbai attack mastermind Sajid Mir independently several times in Pakistan before ten LeT fighters ascended on India’s shore and unleashed the chaos and carnage.

Headley often referred to both men and others connected to the attacks as “sahib,” a respected Urdu salutation that roughly translates to “mister.”

When Headley proposed that he might be able to coax his friend Rana into helping with the ruse, both Iqbal and Sajid had similar reactions.

Iqbal, who Headley said gave him $25,000 to set up his bogus Mumbai office, “thought it was an excellent idea,” Headley said.

Similarly LeT leadership thought “it was a great” strategy, he said.

Rana could never return to his native country since he went AWOL after he suffered altitude sickness so Iqbal told Headley he could further coax Rana by telling him with his assistance, he might be able to visit Pakistan again.

Headley shared videotapes of sites he shot while in India with both men, including the Taj Hotel. Conversely, both men gave Headley similar instructions on his follow-up assignments in India, trying to infiltrate the right wing Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena political party and film a train station

Headley said during an April meeting in 2008 Sajid showed him a “terrible” two-feet Styrofoam model of the Taj Hotel and was given a GPS locator.

Headley’s plea deal means he will not face the death penalty, something that defense lawyers argue was a motivating factor for Headley to ensnare Rana.

“He knows on that day he has to give them someone otherwise he’ll face the death penalty,” Rana’s lawyer, Charles Swift said of Headley’s arrest. “He knew he needed a homerun or a touch down.”

Swift painted Headley as a lifelong manipulator, a man who cooperated with U.S. authorities on heroin charges at the same time he was on militant training missions in Pakistan. He is a man who kept three wives at one time, betraying them all at once, he said.

“When they found out about each other, they got really angry,” Swift said. That prompted at least one wife to talk to authorities, he said.

Swift said Headley used Rana and made a fool of him, never disclosing what he was really doing on his trips to Mumbai.

Prosecutors had a different take, saying Rana was involved every step of the way.

They said he wrote letters purporting that Headley was a member of his First World Immigration business and wired him money.

“The defendant is not charged with killing anyone. He’s not charged with picking up a gun or throwing a grenade,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker. “Not every player carries a weapon.”

After the attacks, Rana told Headley “that Indians deserved it,” Streicker said.

When Headley was arrested in 2009, prosecutors said Headley initially shielded Rana, denying his involvement.

“He told those lies because he wanted to defend his best friend in the world, the defendant.”

Terror case witness describes Pakistani intelligence-militant links - Chicago Sun-Times

 

[Hindustani]

Witness: Pakistani intelligence aided terror group
​

The federal government's key witness in the trial of a Chicago businessman accused in the 2008 Mumbai attacks testified today that he first started training more than a decade ago with a Pakistani militant group that received assistance from the country's main intelligence agency.

The trial of businessman Tahawwur Rana is being closely watched worldwide for what testimony might reveal about suspected links between the Pakistani militant group blamed in the rampage on India's largest city and Pakistan's main intelligence agency, which has come under increased scrutiny since Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces on May 2 outside Islamabad.

Of particular interest is the government's first and main witness, David Coleman Headley, who is cooperating with prosecutors after pleading guilty to taking photos and videos of targets in Mumbai before the rampage that killed 160 people including six Americans over three days. Rana is accused of providing cover for Headley by allowing him to use his Chicago-based immigration services business as a cover when he traveled to India.

Headley, Rana's long-time friend from boarding school, told jurors Monday that he received weapons and leadership training with the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba since 2000 and it was his understanding that Lashkar and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, known as the ISI, helped each other in general.

"They coordinated with each other and ISI provided assistance to Lashkar," said Headley, who spoke in a soft voice and with a slight British accent. He did not immediately give any specifics.

Headley said that when Lashkar leaders began talking about a possible attack in India, he suggested that he get involved.

"I suggested that I change my name and make a new passport to make it easy to enter India undetected," Headley testified.

Earlier Monday, attorneys painted dueling portraits of Rana, 50, who has pleaded not guilty.

Defense attorneys said their client was simply taken advantage of by his longtime friend and did not know what was in store. Headley and Rana, a Pakistani-born Canadian who has lived in Chicago for years, met at one of Pakistan's most prestigious military boarding schools and stayed in touch as adults.

Defense attorney Charles Swift told jurors during opening statements that Headley, a Pakistani-American, was a "manipulative man" who "balanced multiple lives" including working for Laskhar-e-Taiba, Pakistani intelligence and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration at the same time.

"David Headley ... has been manipulating people for years. Dr. Rana is by far and away not the first," Swift said during opening statements.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker said Rana was not duped and knew of the plans. She said Rana provided cover for Headley and led him to pose as a representative for his Chicago-based immigration business. She also said Rana knew and supported a separate plot that never happened against a Danish newspaper that had printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad and that Rana and Headley had talked about at least four other plots. She gave no further details.

"The defendant knew all too well that when Headley travels to a foreign country, people may die," Streicker told jurors.

Streicker said the government will show jurors evidence including emails between Headley and Rana that were written in code. She said Headley considered Rana "his best friend in the world."

"The defendant didn't carry a gun or throw a grenade. In a complicated and sophisticated plot, not every player carries a weapon. People like the defendant who provide support are just as critical to the success," Streicker said.

Attention to Rana's trial has increased in recent weeks, especially amid questions about whether the ISI had knowledge of bin Laden's whereabouts. Security has been tightened, with more armed guards and a metal detector outside the courtroom in downtown Chicago, and many reporters from Denmark and India are covering the proceedings.

"The trial has the potential to be an irritant and already has been in what's happening in the U.S.-Pakistani relationship," said Daniel Markey, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "Given the Indian media attention, it'll stoke Indian concern about what Pakistan has been up to."

But some experts are doubtful the trial will reveal much new. For one, federal prosecutors may work hard to keep any sensitive information from surfacing in the courtroom, and Headley's credibility has been under question.

Headley, born Daood Gilani, reached a plea deal with prosecutors in the terrorism case in exchange for avoiding the death penalty and avoiding extradition. He's also been an informant for the DEA after a drug conviction.

Rana is the seventh name on the indictment, and the only defendant in custody. Among the six others charged in absentia is "Major Iqbal" and Sajid Mir, allegedly another Lashkar-e-Taiba supervisor who also "handled" Headley.

Witness: Pakistani intelligence aided terror group - Chicago Breaking News

 

[Hindustani]

At U.S. trial, Pakistan links to Mumbai attacks examined
​

CHICAGO (Reuters) - An American who has admitted scouting targets for the 2008 assault on Mumbai by Pakistani militants testified on Monday that the plot was hatched with at least one Pakistani intelligence official and a navy frogman.

At a trial for a Chicago businessman accused of providing a front for his surveillance work in India, David Headley testified to getting help and guidance from two officers in Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, the ISI.

Headley pleaded guilty last year to being a co-conspirator in the Mumbai attacks, in which 10 militants from the Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) killed 166 people, including six Americans.

On the stand as a star witness in the case against his childhood friend, Tahawwur Rana, a Pakistan-born Canadian citizen, Headley said he was recruited by LeT and shuttled between India, Pakistan and the United States performing surveillance and briefing his contacts and Rana.

The 50-year-old Headley said he was introduced to a retired Pakistani military officer at a mosque, and reported regularly to his LeT handlers and an ISI officer named "Major Iqbal."

"These groups operated under the umbrella of ISI ... they coordinated with ISI," Headley testified under questioning by prosecutor Daniel Collins.

Rana, 50, is accused of using his immigration services firm in Chicago to provide a cover story for Headley's surveillance work and to be a conduit for communication with militants.

His trial comes at a time of growing discord in the United States about Pakistan's commitment to fight terrorism after the United States discovered and killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a compound near the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

Pakistani authorities deny having known where the man behind the September 11 attacks was hiding, but the revelation raised U.S.-Pakistani tensions and increased interest in who may have known what about the Mumbai attacks.

U.S. prosecutor Sarah Streicker said that although Rana did not carry a gun or throw a grenade, he was complicit in the violence in India's financial capital.

Some Pakistanis accused in the case but not in U.S. custody knew about Rana and were "appreciative of his assistance," she said in her opening statement to the jury in U.S. District Court in Chicago. At one point after the 2008 attack, Streicker said Rana told Headley, "The Indians deserved it."

SCOUTING MUMBAI

A defense attorney for Rana tried to challenge Headley's credibility, suggesting that he changed his story repeatedly and duped Rana. "Headley told his own wife after the attack that 'I acknowledge that I made a fool out of (Rana),'" said defense attorney Charles Swift.

Swift said the militants had tried and failed twice before to launch the attack on Mumbai by hijacking Indian fishing boats -- crashing one onto rocks and letting the other escape.

Headley, who has been convicted twice of importing heroin into the United States, told the court he had wanted to wage war against India in the disputed territory of Kashmir but was advised he would get another assignment, which turned out to be scouting Mumbai. He was directed to change his given name, Daood Gilani, for easier travel in India.

Arrested on a trip to Pakistan's northeast while seeking an old contact who could help smuggle weapons into India, Headley said he was freed after explaining to an ISI officer named "Major Ali" about his training and ties to LeT.

He also told the court that he had suggested to an LeT operations chief named Zaki that a lawsuit be filed against the United States for labeling LeT a terrorist organization.

"Zaki said we would have to take ISI into confidence before making such a move ... He meant to consult with ISI," he said.

Headley said he was asked to shoot video of luxury hotels, Mumbai's bus and train terminals, the headquarters of the right-wing Shiv Sena political party and of the coastline. He was provided a GPS device to mark locales and targets.

Headley recalled how he pleased his handlers with his surveillance work and settled a dispute about where to land by suggesting a spot by some fishermen's shanties, across from a taxi stand. Among those plotting the seaborne assault was a Pakistani navy frogman, Headley said, who agreed with his assessment.

Iqbal gave him $25,000 for expenses and requested he scout an Indian nuclear research facility.

He was told not to get close to Indians he befriended, and not to press his forehead down too hard during Muslim prayers to avoid leaving a mark and giving away his identity.

Rana -- who faces the possibility of life in prison -- and Headley were also charged with participating in a second plot with Pakistani militants. That plot, never carried out, allegedly targeted a Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed which angered many Muslims.

At U.S. trial, Pakistan links to Mumbai attacks examined | Reuters

 

[Hindustani]

SHUT UP guys.. we are already having enough of headache.. none of this $hit sounds comment-able so please zip this non-sense for few days.

Well start dealing with Karma.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

These are the very same reasons which resulted in the latest PN base attack. The more you people deny, the more your kind will suffer.

it isnt about denying it's just about keeping one bloody topic in one bloody thread like most forums do

i dont see the need why you and 'your people' need to come here in packs like wild hyenas -- making 1,000,000 different threads on the same topic. Does it make sense to you? Cause it sure don't make sense to me.

wisen up just a little bit

 

[MiloMayor]

I really feel ashamed because of this guy. What Pakistan can do is to eliminate radicalization of its people which will be good for itself and for other countries. Both of these guys were from a elite Pakistani school. If guys form an elite school can be radicalized like this that too haven lived in US for such a long time, how about the normal people who goes to the local Madarasa? The ISI/Army has to change its priorities and change the way they use these Mullas/Madarasas. Why cant Pakistan divert the effort and $ that it spends on these things to develop the economy. Its time to get rid of Zia's school books and look forward. Try to resolve the issues with India using talks, eliminate the patronage in ISI/Army for these radicals, concentrate on the economy. The best way to win over India is using the economy not using these failed method,which will make Pakistan a failed state in the future.

 

[saleen_s7]

We have a terrorist sympathizer here. MI-5 and Scotland yard keep an eye on this one, never know when he is going to spontaneously combust in a tube or a bus.

Nice come back to the argument I put forward. As usual a typical indian move to label someone a terrorist when things don't align with your views. Instead of attacking Pakistan on every chance you get, you should realise terrorism is a huge problem in our region and when YOUR own govt endorses terrorism, it is hypocritical of you to point fingers. So, if I sympathise with the 2000 killed in the Gujrat? I am a terrorist? anyways, your little brain is too stupid to comprehend any of this.

 

[MastanKhan]

how many of these same, boring repetitive threads need to be made? Mods -- wake up!

Yeah---what are the mods upto---this freedom of expression is sometimes going too far----our indian colleagues do need to be reminded that they are still in pak territory----or is this indian territory in disguise acting as if pakistani territory.

 

[intervention]

I thought David Headley was a CIA agent... hmmm... doesn't that implicate the CIA in the Mumbai attacks?

Lol when we show evidence, u claim foul play... why are these random conspiracy theories popping out of nowhere... headly is the CIA?/?? wtf

 

[Dhruv V Singh]

Nice come back to the argument I put forward. As usual a typical indian move to label someone a terrorist when things don't align with your views. Instead of attacking Pakistan on every chance you get, you should realise terrorism is a huge problem in our region and when YOUR own govt endorses terrorism, it is hypocritical of you to point fingers. So, if I sympathise with the 2000 killed in the Gujrat? I am a terrorist? anyways, your little brain is too stupid to comprehend any of this.

Is this thread about Gujarat riots? No! Are they hundreds of other threads about Gujarat riots? Yes. Are the Gujarat rioters(both Hindu and Muslims) being taken care of in Indian courts? Yes.

So stop your whining, and if you don't want to, you can sod off to the Gujarat thread. Stop derailing threads

P.S: Read up on Godhra incident, which incited the riots in Gujarat.

 

[venu309]

These are the very same reasons which resulted in the latest PN base attack. The more you people deny, the more your kind will suffer.

At least in the PN base attack it was the armed service men who are supposed to be alert & who had joined the service to fight and die for their country got killed, but in the Mumbai attack, these bastards indiscriminately shot the innocent unarmed civilians, women & children....

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

Lol when we show evidence, u claim foul play... why are these random conspiracy theories popping out of nowhere... headly is the CIA?/?? wtf

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6960182.ece

 

[toxic_pus]

how many of these same, boring repetitive threads need to be made? Mods -- wake up!

Your agony has just begun. We will drip feed you as the case progresses. You can count on that.

And now for some live twits from inside the courtroom.

»

David Headley in terror trial says LeT leader told him 1 second of jihad "superior to 100 years of worship."
»

Headley now describing series of military/intelligence courses in Pakistan
»

David Headley in terror trial said he asked Lashkar to launch him into Kashmir. But they had other plans for him.
»

David Headley in 26/11 Chicago trial says Pakistani ISI "coordinated" with terror group Lashkar
»

David Headley in 26/11 Chicago trial says Pakistani ISI "provided assistance" to terror group Lashkar
»

Headley says he discussed Rana's imm biz as cover story for being in Mumbai w/Sgt. Iqbal. #Ranatrial
»

David Headley testifies he told Rana he was "drafted by the ISI" for intelligence work. #Ranatrial
»

Headley says ISI's Major Iqbal promised $25,000 so Headley could set up imm biz in Mumbai #Ranatrial
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Headley testified he obtained Indian visa b/c of a letter from Rana, verifying employment. #Ranatrial
»

Headley talks 2006 trip scouting Mumbai. Per orders:"I took many, many, many hours of video." #Ranatrial
»

Headley says scouting video included the Taj hotel in Mumbai. #Ranatrial
»

David Headley says he was ordered to conceal that he was Muslim and Pakistani while in India. #Ranatrial
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Headley says Rana sent him money, 3 wire transfers, while he was in Mumbai. #Ranatrial
»

Headley turned over surveillance tapes to Iqbal after 3-month India stay. #Ranatrial
»

Lashkar handler told Headley of Mumbai friends "don't really make them your friends in you're heart...they are enemies." #Ranatrial
»

Headley said he was shown video of Pakistani massacre as a way to motivate his "jihad" in Mumbai. #Ranatrial
»

David Headley: handlers gave him GPS. "Any location that I wanted to save on that device, I should save." On land and ocean. #Ranatrial
»

In April, 2008, Headley took boat trips for saving several pot landing sites on GPS #Ranatrial
»

It was Headley who found landing site that was used in terror plot. An area "where fishermen resided," west tip of Mumbai #Ranatrial
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Prosecutors put sev surveillance photos into evidence. Now at sidebar. #Ranatrial
»

After 2008 Mumbai trip, Headley again debriefs Iqbal (ISI) and Lashkar. They like his landing recommendtn #Ranatrial
»

Headley: benefit of landing site, was near a taxi stand. "There are always taxis there, 24 hrs a day." #Ranatrial
»

When asked a series of ques about whether he relayed Mumbai scouting/trip to Rana, Headley says "I did." #Ranatrial

Follow her: https://twitter.com/#!/natashakorecki

Also him: https://twitter.com/#!/Colinfreeze

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

these bastards indiscriminately shot the innocent unarmed civilians, women & children....

Ya exactly what your security services do regularly in occupied Kashmir. So at least I can see we agree that ANY civilian life is precious and any claret being spilt is un-necessary and needless. Instead of talking properly on this forum a good number of u bhartis make ruckus and engage in textbook trollery and contribute ZILCH to discussions here. At least that is how I feel about it. But the floor is on you to rebuttal if you like.