Rana provided cover for Headley: prosecution

PTI

Chicago, 24 May 2011: The trial of the Mumbai attacks co-accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana commenced on Monday with the prosecution saying the Pakistani-Canadian provided cover in the terror plot for his longtime friend David Headley who took photos and videos of targets in Mumbai before the carnage.

The trial of Rana is being closely watched worldwide for what testimony might reveal about suspected links between the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba(LeT) blamed in the attacks and the country’s powerful intelligence agency ISI, which has been under scrutiny after Osama bin Laden was killed by US forces on May 2 outside Islamabad.

During opening statements, Assistant US Attorney Sarah Streicker said Rana provided cover for co-accused Headley, a Pakistani-American, who took photos and videos of targets in Mumbai before the attacks and that Rana led Headley to pose as a representative for his Chicago-based immigration businesses.

Rana(50) has pleaded not guilty but Headley(50) his old friend from military school in Pakistan pleaded guilty, trial proceedings began in Chicago’s Dirksen Federal Building. The arguments in the trial are being heard by a 12-member jury.

 

 

Streicker said that Headley would testify at Rana’s trial. Headley is cooperating with the government and may discuss allegations that Pakistan’s government knew or possibly helped plan the attack that killed 166 people

including six Americans.

But attorneys for Rana, who is also accused of planning an attack that never happened on a Danish newspaper, have said their client was simply duped by his longtime friend and did not know what plot was in store.

Headley and Rana, a Pakistani-born Canadian, met at one of Pakistan’s most prestigious military boarding schools and stayed in touch as adults.

India is watching the case closely and during the trial ISI is to come under scrutiny as Rana is expected to spill the beans on its role in the Mumbai attack.

Rana, who was indicted by a federal grand jury under 12 counts on February 15 last year, is accused of providing material support to LeT and guiding Headley in scouting the targets.

Rana’s trial is perhaps the most important terrorism trial to be held in the US.

Rana could reveal ISI’s links to terrorists and details about its specific involvement in the Mumbai attack. Headley will be the prosecution’s main witness against Rana.

Before the trial, Rana’s lawyer claimed he was betrayed by Headley. With the trial getting under way, the US has approached India to obtain evidence from the investigations conducted against Rana and Headley.

Rana’s First World Immigration Services allegedly made the travel arrangements for terror operatives to survey potential terror targets. The case is based on recorded phone calls, emails, highway toll records and surveillance.

The first charge against Rana is the conspiracy to bomb places of public use in India. The second is the conspiracy to murder and maim in India. Rana is further charged with the murder of US nationals in India.

Rana, along with others, allegedly provided material support to terrorism in India. He is also accused of conspiracy to murder and maim in Denmark and providing material support to terrorists in Denmark. Rana allegedly provided material support to LeT.

The jurors, four men and eight women, have been selected from a pool of possible 38, and sworn-in after being questioned by US District Court Judge Harry D Leinenweber about their understanding and views on Islam, citizenship and terrorism.

The jury, mostly consisting of minorities like blacks and Asians, was formed out of 100 jurors that were questioned.

The trial of Rana could reveal ISI’s links to terrorists and any evidence of spy agency’s "malfeasance" would worsen US-Pakistan relations, the New York Times reported recently.

Headley, who himself is not on trial will be the main witness against Rana, is set to recount his story of the Mumbai attack during the trial, it said.

"What he (Headley) discloses could deepen suspicions that Pakistani spies are connected to terrorists and could potentially worsen relations between Washington and Islamabad," it said.

Headley claims that two years before terrorists struck Mumbai, he began laying the groundwork for the attack, financed by $25,000 from an officer in ISI.