Ilyas Kashmiri had plan to kill Lockheed CEO over drone

From Himani Kumar
Chicago (PTI) - LeT operative David Headley
Tuesday testified before a US court that al-Qaeda leader Ilyas
Kashmiri had a plan to kill CEO of Lockheed Martin in
frustration over drone attacks along the Af-Pak border and had
sent men for surveillance.
Testifying in the resumed hearing on the Mumbai attack
trial, Headley said following his arrest he had offered to
help FBI by giving a sword implanted with a chip to Kashmiri
so that he could be targeted by drone attacks.
"There was a plan to kill him because he was making
drones," Headley testified during the trial of Tahawwur
Hussain Rana, a Mumbai attack co-accused.
50-year-old Headley, a Pakistani-American, said this
while being cross-examined by defence lawyer of Tawahhur
Hussain Rana, a 26/11 co-accused and a Canadian of Pakistani
origin who is standing trial after being slapped with a dozen
charges in connection with the Mumbai attacks in which 166
persons were killed.
"(Ilyas) Kashmiri had plan to kill CEO of Lockheed
Martin to stop any further drone attacks," Headley said,
adding the dreaded al Qaeda leader plotted the killing out of
frustration over the attacks on the volatile Af-Pak border.
Lockheed are manufacturers of drone planes which are
being used by American forces to strike targets at militant
hideouts. Headley replied in the negative when asked if he was
working on a plot to kill the Lockheed Martin boss.
Headley, who has pleaded guilty in the case, testified
that Kashmiri had arranged for men to carry out surveillance
in the US in connection with the plot to kill the Lockheed
CEO.
Headley testified that he was secretly researching on
internet at Rana's home.
"My research is more in-depth than Googling someone a
couple of times," he testified during cross-examination by
Rana's defence attorney.
He also said that he tried to get a longer visa to
stay in Pakistan through his school friend Aman Rashid who
worked at Pakistan consulate in Chicago.
The trial has so far focused on the testimony of
Headley who has exposed the nexus between ISI and LeT in
carrying out the Mumbai terror attacks.
Headley pleaded guilty to 12 terrorism charges related
to the deadly 26/11 attacks and other plots in the wake of his
2009 arrest here.
During his deposition Headley said that only a handful
of ISI agents were involved in the 26/11 attacks. Asked
whether he meant that the head of ISI was not involved, he
said "Yes".
He is testifying against alleged co-conspirator Rana
in exchange for avoiding the death penalty and extradition to
India, Pakistan or Denmark.
On being asked by Rana's lawyer whether he had struck
a deal with the US under which there will be no death sentence
and no extradition to India, Pakistan and Denmark, Headley
replied in the affirmative.
As the trial unfolded, more links between ISI and LeT
are emerging with Headley narrating his side of the story that
he started straying away from the so-called "ISI Jihad" with
Major Iqbal and Sajid Mir toward a more "holy jihad" with
Pasha or Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed, a retired major from the
Pakistani Army, who connected Headley with Kashmiri.
Headley said, he felt remorseful for those killed in
the Mumbai attacks.
To another question, Headley said Rana had agreed to
invest USD 11,000 in land deals in Pakistan and he too was
allowed by the US to strike property deals with his partners
in that country.
Asked by Rana's lawyer whether US has accorded him
special treatment by allowing him to meet his wife and
children, Headley said, "Yes".
Headley said that he had told his wife Shazia that he
would write a book. "If I write a book, I can make huge
amounts of money," he said.
During the testimony, Headley said, he did not recall
being treated for mental disorder. But when pressed by Rana's
lawyer Patrick Blegen, Headley said he recalled telling FBI
agent Scott Dunham on May 13 this year that he was treated for
18 months in 1997 at the Philadelphia Psychiatric Consultation
Centre.
On whether he had been diagnosed with personality
disorder in 1992, Headley replied "I don't recall. I will
accept it."
Headley tried to get his kids into school by getting
employee ID for Shazia who did not have work permit through
Rana. Rana said Headley's employment proof would do.