David Headley alleges Pakistan role in Mumbai attacks

[RayBan]

LoLZZZZZZ.. You're so creative....

....jane do....

 

[IFB]

By Andrew Stern

CHICAGO | Tue May 24, 2011 9:45am IST

(Reuters) - American citizen David Headley 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 Tahawwur Rana, accused of providing a front for his surveillance work in India, Headley testified to getting help and guidance from two officers in Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, the ISI.

David 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 Sept. 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 Mumbai.

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.

(Editing by Jeremy Pelofsky and Christopher Wilson)

ISI helped LeT in 26/11 Mumbai attacks - Headley | Reuters

 

[ramu]

PAK LeT and ISI caught red handed ? Bad days ahead for intelligence agency. People are going to get to the bottom of this.

 

[S.M.R]

PAK LeT and ISI caught red handed ? Bad days ahead for intelligence agency. People are going to get to the bottom of this.

Who caught them? The claims by Rana / Headley are 'Just Claims'. If decisions / conviction would have been on the basis of claims then 80% of the world must be in Jail or hanged up.

---------- Post added at 11:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:32 AM ----------

http://www.defence.pk/forums/strate...evidence-26-11-against-pak-us-ambassador.html

 

[toxic_pus]

All the live twits by Mr Colin Freeze have consolidated by Mr Steppen Wolf.

This is day 1.

# Trial expected to expose links between Pakistani spy service and Mumbai attackhttp://t.co/nB7PRZB /via @globeandmail @colinfreeze
# Bomb sniffing German shepherd at entrance of Chicago court where Tahawwur #Rana is going on trial this am... I'll be Tweeting.
# About 50 reporters assembled for Chicago court media briefing prior to the opening today's #Rana trial.Trial expected to expose links between Pakistani spy service and Mumbai attack - The Globe and Mail
# Finally inside #Ranatrial in Chicago. Tight security. US Marshals briefed media re:protocol. Things will happen soon ... Trial expected to expose links between Pakistani spy service and Mumbai attack - The Globe and Mail
# Rana enters nodding at family, some in hijabs. He's much thinner, his hair whiter than I recall seeing him, in court 1+ year ago. #Ranatrial
# Jury enters. Multicultural cross-section of working class Chicago. How will lawyers argue the murky, twisty Mumbai plot to them? #Ranatrial
# Prosecutors make it simple. This is a case about two terrorist plots. One that succeeded (Mumbai) on that failed (Denmark). #Ranatrial
# Prosecutor to jurors: "You'll hear from David Headley... He's gonna give a rare insider's account of planning these atrocious attacks."
# Prosecutor: Tahawwur Rana was David Headley's "best friend in the world." (@ProPublica reports today DH gave TR big big loan.) #Ranatrial
# USDOJ tells jurors of key figure: Major Iqbal (MI). "Headley understood MI to be an officer in Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate..."
# USDOJ: ISI's Major Iqbal and terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba trained Headley tasked him with Mumbai recce of Taj/ trains harbour etc #Ranatrial
# USDOJ: Rana was warned to stay away from Mumbai.Afterward, he was heard saying dead gunmen "should get Pakistan's highest military honour."
# USDOJ: Pakistan's Consul General in Chicago was a "classmate" of Rana/Headley. They duped him to get visas.
# USDOJ: When Lashkar wouldn't fund Denmark plot, Rana/Headley turned to al-Qaeda aligned Ilyas Kashmiri. #Ranatrial
# USDOJ opening ends. Jurors have been given a War-and-Peace-sized cast of shady characters. Rana smiles and nods at family. #Ranatrial
# Awaiting Rana's defence. USDOJ concluded with "not every player carries a weapon." Terrorist supporters "equally as critical." #RanaTrial
# Please read this moving account of the Mumbai Massacre from Canadian survivor Helen Connolly.Eyewitness: As trial begins, Canadian recalls surviving 2008 Mumbai massacre - The Globe and Mail #Ranatrial
# Defence begins: "David Headley is a master manipulator who made a fool of Doctor Rana." #Ranatrial
# Defence:"Headley was living multiple lives with multiple people and he was very good at it." #Ranatrial (3 wives & wrking 4 ISI/LeT/USDEA!!)
# Defence: Rana was a model student at Pakistan Military boarding school. Classmate Headley flunked out. #Ranatrial
# Defence: Best buds. Rana put his house when Headley got busted for smuggling heroin in 1990s.Headley later loaned Rana $100,000. #Ranatrial
# Rana's bio: Star Student. Pak Army doctor. Served in first Gulf War w/ coalition. Gets altitude sick when assigned to mountains. #Ranatrial
# ... Rana goes to Germany to heal, goes AWOL. Immigrates to Canada. Moves to Chicago to start businesses. #Ranatrial
# Defence paints Rana as Headley's dupe. Relies on Rana's travels to India during Mumbai Massacre as proof he was not in the loop. #Ranatrial
# Jurors look shellshocked. Trying to absorb twisty roles of Rana/Headley/Iqbal/Kasmiri/LeT/ISI/USDEA/Pasha/Mumbai/Denmark/etc. #Ranatrial
# Defence opening is over. First witness -- likely David Headley -- expected after a break. #Ranatrial
# David Headley takes a seat in the witness box and exchanges a meaningful look with his former best friend ... #Ranatrial
# Headley doesn't faintly resemble a South Asian. Only vaguest traces of an accent speak to his Pakistani heritage.
# Headley-Rana shared quarters in Pakistani miltary boarding school. Students used to talk about India/Indians there... #Ranatrial\
# Headley: "I disliked them (Indians). Dismembered Pakistan. ... My junior school was bombed (in 71 war)" etc. #Ranatrial
# Headley lived in Lahore in 2000 when he first made contact with Lashkar-e-Taiba. "I went to a meeting. I listened to speeches." #Ranatrial
# LeT head gave a speech at a house with 200+ people. "He said one second spend conducting jihad was superior to 100 years praying."#Ranatrial
# Headley says LeT wages jihad to avenge civilian deaths and to force India to comply with UN resolutions re: Kashmir.#Ranatrial
# Why does LeT wage Jihad? "They felt it was an obligation," Headley says. All LeT members are Salafis, he says.#Ranatrial.
# Why does LeT wage Jihad? "They felt it was an obligation," Headley says. All LeT members are Salafis, he says.#Ranatrial
# Headley graduated through a series of training camps. First, Koranic studies. Then small arms training. AK47s etcs. ...#Ranatrial
# Headley then learned spy and commando techniques. Deap drops. Safehouses. Hostage rescue. Breaching. Etc. #Ranatrial
# Headley wanted to fight Indians in Kashmir but "I was told they (LET) would find something better and more suitable for me." #Ranatrial
# By 2003 Headley attended LeT lunches with LeT Leader Hafez Saeed and operations commander "Zeki"...#Ranatrial
# Headley suggested LeT sue US govt for designating it a terror org. LeT leaders Zeki said "he would have to consult with ISI..." #Ranatrial
# "These groups operate under the umbrella of the ISI ... They coordinate with each other.": Headley #Ranatrial
# Headley says he changed his name in 2005 so "nobody would be able to tell I was a Muslim or a Pakistani." Says he briefed LeT. #Ranatrial
# "Pasha" -- Headley accomplice -- was a Pakistani Major retired early after he refused to seal off the Tora Bora border in 02 (!) #Ranatrial
# Headley was arrested near Peshawar in 2005. "I said I was Pakistani they didn't believe me. They thought I was a foreigner." #Ranatrial
# An ISI figure sprung Headley, and put him in touch with "Major Iqbal" (alleged co-conspirator) for the first time. #Ranatrial
# Eyewitness: As trial begins, Canadian recalls surviving 2008 Mumbai Massacre Eyewitness: As trial begins, Canadian recalls surviving 2008 Mumbai massacre - The Globe and Mail /via @globeandmail @colinfreeze
# Headley says he came up with immigration-office front but ISI's "Major Iqbal" gave the plan his blessing. #Ranatrial
# "He thought it was very suitable for the work he wanted me to do," said Headley. He told LET handlers he was now with ISI too #Ranatrial
# Headley says ISI's Maj. Iqbal tasked him to set up in Mubai and befriend influential people "who live in military facilities." #Ranatrial
# Headley and Maj. Iqbal conspired to radicalize Rana. Gave him Salafi teachings, Jihad tapes, to enlist his help, Headley says. #Ranatrial
# Rana was not initially OK with attacks on non-combattants, Headley testifies. Rana said Koran precludes such attacks. #Ranatrial
# Headley's LeT handlers told him to "prostrate lightly" during prayers lest he get a mihrab (forehead scar) and blow his cover. #Ranatrial
# This is key Headley testimony about Rana. The whole trial turns on this ... #Ranatrial ...
# Setting up Mumbai firm"I explained to him I had been drafted, as it were, by the ISI, ... But I still had contacts with Lashkar." #Ranatrial
# "I asked if he would allow us to use his office as a front ... He agreed." #Ranatrial
# "I was instructed too take general video of the city (Mumbai) .... I took many many hours.". Headley now being shown pix of Taj. #Ranatrial
# "An immigration consultant is a person of great influence in India," Headley says. Before recce mission he was 2 cozy up 2 important people.
# In 06 Headley tells Rana of ISI $ backing. "I told him that Major Iqbal would be providing me with $25,000...." #Ranatrial
# Headley rented Mumbai apt. from an elderly couple. Presented himself as "South Asian Regional Director" for Chicago consultancy. #Ranatrial
# What happened when clients turned up at the Mumbai consultancy? "I sometimes spoke to them myself. ... #Ranatrial.
# "... I sometimes arranged conference calls with Dr. Rana ... I would see if it was worthwhile." #Ranatrial
# Rana was financially beholden to Headley at time of the conspiracy. Owed him up to $50,000 at the time from a 2001 era debt. #Ranatrial
# After 3 months in India in late 2006, Headley returned to Pakistan to brief ISI Maj. Iqbal and LET Sajid Mir. It was Jan. 2007... #Ranatrial
# Headley's ISI and LET handlers BOTH told him to recce 2nd floor of Taj Hotel. Why? "Defence contractors and scientists" met there #Ranatrial
# Headley says he spoke to his ISI and LET handlers in separate meetings, but each always knew what he told the other. #Ranatrial
# (We really haven't heard enough about Maj. Iqbal's bonafides. Headley doesn't say much about him save for the fact he's ISI.) #Ranatrial
# (This trial is a Twitter epiphany for me. Had just over 1,100 followers this a.m. Now closing in on 2,000...) #Ranatrial
# Before break Headley said he had gotten to know Shiv Sena figures in a bid to "get friendly with their leadership." Spy basically #Ranatrial
# Rereading Helen Connolly as I stare a David Headley glare a the jurors as they come back in ... http://t.co/45Xa4RZ/via @globeandmail
# USDOJ: Why were you seeking (Chicago consutlancy) business cards ? Headley: "To authenticate my cover." (Feared being stopped and searched)
# March 2007 Headley: "I made some video of the Oberoi hotel. Very good hotel as well. Less status than the Taj."
# May 2007 -- Headley returns to Pakistan. Gives new Taj video to Major Iqbal. "I briefed him ...I told about meeting Raja Rege..." #Ranatrial
# Headley had been inside Shiv Sena complex took footage. ISI's Major Iqbal "was pretty amazed I got inside ...It was a bid deal." #Ranatrial
# Headley returned to US to tell Rana about he was doing videotaped recce oof sites in Mumbai. #Ranatrial Zeroed in on exits and entrances.
# In May 07 Headley's one year visa toooo India expired. He went back to Chicago got a 5-year visa. #Ranatrial
# Rana "helped me get my (5 year) visa," Headley says. (Despite posing as an immi consultant, Headley never got anyone a visa) #Ranatrial
# In 07 ISI Maj. Iqbal tasked Headley to go back to Taj a third time, for "more detailed" video and try for conference schedules. #Ranatrial
# Headley told Maj. Iqbal / Sajid Mir he had struck out on acquiring Taj conference schedules. "No big deal." Forked over more videos.
# Headley went to LET HQ. Group's military chief showed him 2-foot styrofoam Taj mockup."He envisioned a few men going in and opening fire..."
# LET told Headley not to "take his (Mumbai) friends in his heart. Specific mention of a "Rahul." Still his enemies.. #Ranatrial
# LET showed Headley videos of 02 anti-Muslim mob violence in Gujarat; hundreds slain. USDOOJ: Did it motivate your jihad? H: Yes. #Ranatrial
# March 08. Headley meets his LET handlers again. This time there is "a navy frogman" with them. "They were looking at sea charts." #Ranatrial
# LET's original plan was to land the gunmen in boats at The Gateway of India landmark. Headley nixed that. Unfeasible and unsafe. #Ranatrial
# "The frogman agreed with me," Headley says. #Ranatrial
# Planners nixed proposal to boat gunmen in a few miles from city. Too dumb to hail taxis. "These boys would not be sophisticated" #Ranatrial
# Headley says he was told to visit the BhaBha Nuclear Research Centre in India by Maj. Iqbal.
# The original plan was "egress" not suicide. Stick the gunmen in a safehouse or get them to buses or trains after, Headley says. #Ranatrial
# LET "gave me a global positioning device. Any location I wanted to save on that device, they showed me how to do it." Headley #Ranatrial
# There was also a plan to ship in extra weapons/bombs in Mumbai, stash it for a future group, Headley says. #Ranatrial
# ISI Major Iqbal's email address was apparently chaudherykhan@yahoo.com. Used a NYC mobile too (646 area code.) #Ranatrial
# "All calls between Pakistan and the United States all -- most -- of them are monitored Headley says. #Ranatrial(End run around FISA/NSA?!)
# Headley seems to be a man without any emotion or contrition. Very calm factual and terse . "I recommended bringing ordinance," etc.
# The plotters disagreed about whether they should stash weapons in Mumbai. Some saw attacks as a one-off, others as a vanguard. #Ranatrial
# In spring 08 Headley says he gave Rana lowdown on Mumbai plan. "That seems to a shift from the original plan" R. "Yes it was," H #Ranatrial
# "I told (Rana) I discussed these things with Major Iqbal, whatever I had done in India." #Ranatrial
# Headley says he told Rana that LET's e-foot styrofoam moockup of the Taj was a "terrible" mockup. Rana laughed. Allegedly. #Ranatrial
# Trial closes with an interesting bit about nuke plant recce. I find this interesting b/c FBI was interested in Rana's interest I nukes ...
# Headley says he told Rana he had been tasked to visit nuke plant once. Rana is said to have replied there's an IndoPak treaty ... #Ranatrial
# Making any such aggression illegal. Headley says the nuke plant recce was pure surveillance not foor any attack.
# That's it for the trial today. I'll be back tomorrow at 930 am Chicago time.

Steppenwolf: Dr. Tuhawwar Rana’s Trial in Chicago as Tweeted by Colin Freeze

Mr Freeze's twitter a/c: Twitter

 

[ramu]

Who caught them? The claims by Rana / Headley are 'Just Claims'. If decisions / conviction would have been on the basis of claims then 80% of the world must be in Jail or hanged up.

---------- Post added at 11:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:32 AM ----------

http://www.defence.pk/forums/strate...evidence-26-11-against-pak-us-ambassador.html

Keep yourself updated with the latest news Innocent boy...

David Headley is the star witness and he has spilt the beans point by point in the exact order as listed in the dossiers presented to Pakistan.

 

[ramu]

 

[Eric89]

Who caught them? The claims by Rana / Headley are 'Just Claims'. If decisions / conviction would have been on the basis of claims then 80% of the world must be in Jail or hanged up.

---------- Post added at 11:33 AM ----------


You still talking..? I can't believe it. lol.

How about changing ur name to Mr MOREPROOF? lol

may be you didn't like the smell of Kasab's underwear that we sent you. lols

Now you still wanna reply and make me laugh even more? you're so entertaining man.. LOLZZZZ

 

[tvsram1992]

Whats new in that we know long before...

 

[S.M.R]

brand was "innocent boy" and under it was written "donated in aid by China"

How you people missed such an important proof? That underwear was prime evidence for involvement of Pak ISI in Mumbai Terror. Now include that as well in the list of charges against Childambaram seeking resignation.

 

[Eric89]

How you people missed such an important proof? That underwear was prime evidence for involvement of Pak ISI in Mumbai Terror. Now include that as well in the list of charges against Childambaram seeking resignation.

LOLZZZ... you're killing me man.. hearing from you is a real fun. You didn't say how was the smell of the underwear by the way..lol

 

[MumbaiIndians]

Headley is speaking what his father CIA has asked him to.

The purpose is to, spread poison into minds of Indian and Pakistani immigrants, traders, technologists in USA, against each other.

And then use these hate-filled lobbies to influence respective goverments in home-countries, to create tensions in region.

Typical american game.

 

[Pioneerfirst]

If we had Raymond Davis in our hands then situation may not have been such.
May truth prevail and anyone involved in killing innocents may get punishment.

 

[Jackdaws]

If we had Raymond Davis in our hands then situation may not have been such.
May truth prevail and anyone involved in killing innocents may get punishment.

I doubt the situation would have been different. The way America works is that the judiciary is well and truly independent of the government - Davis was the headache of the Obama administration not of the Chicago judge and the jury.

 

[MumbaiIndians]

I doubt the situation would have been different. The way America works is that the judiciary is well and truly independent of the government - Davis was the headache of the Obama administration not of the Chicago judge and the jury.

Not true. They follow agendas given by White house, when american interests are involved.

Even the CNN, FOX and BBC are not free media. They toe the line of respective administrations.