Headley to testify against Illyas Kashmiri and Sajid Mir

HEADLEY
From Lalit K Jha
Washington, Jun 14 (PTI) David Headley, who
has pleaded guilty to charges of his involvement in the Mumbai
terror attacks, would testify against his Pakistani handlers,
Illyas Kashmiri and Sajid Mir, a US attorney has said.
Headley will testify in any future prosecutions of
fugitive masterminds such as al-Qaeda chief Ilyas Kashmiri
and LeT's Sajid Mir, who is charged with a lead role in the
Mumbai plot, Propublica.Com quoted US Attorney Patrick
Fitzgerald as saying.
Headley, a Pakistani-American, was the star
witness in the recently concluded trial if Tahawwur Husain
Rana, who was convicted by a Chicago court on two counts of
terrorism related charges – participating in the conspiracy of
terror attacks in Denmark and providing material support to
Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Rana, 50, however, was found not guilty on charges
related to the Mumbai terrorist attacks. He now faces a
maximum jail sentence up to 30 years.
"Fitzgerald declined to discuss details of the case
such as the politically sensitive decision to indict a
suspected ISI officer who served as Headley's handler and is
known only as Major Iqbal," ProPublica said.
At a news conference in Chicago last week, Fitzgerald
vowed to bring the other six Pak-based defendants to justice
who have been named in the indictment filed by federal
prosecutors before the court.
Illyas Kashmiri, the Al Qaeda leader; Sajid Mir, the
Lashkar-e-Taiba commander; Major Iqbal, said to be a serving
officer of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and
Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed aka Pasha, another LeT leader; are
charged to be involved in the 26/11 attack, besides plotting a
major terrorist attack in Denmark.
"We are hoping to see them brought to justice. We have
to take that one step at a time," US Attorney, Patrick
Fitzgerald had said.
Rana is the second defendant to be convicted among a
total of eight co-defendants who have been indicted in this
case since late 2009.
Co-defendant Headley, 50, pleaded guilty in March 2010
to all 12 counts against him, including aiding and abetting
the murders of the six American victims.
Headley, who is facing a maximum sentence of
life in prison, has cooperated with the government since he
was arrested in October 2009, and testified as a government
witness at Rana's trial.
The six remaining defendants are believed to be hiding
in Pakistan. It is understood that the United States is
seeking extradition of all the six accused in the Chicago
case.
Recent reports from Pakistan said that Kashmiri has
been killed in a US drone attack, but the United States has
not confirmed it.
"I am not in charge of drone attacks. I do not know
what happened. We read news paper report.. I am not there, I
do not know whether there was drone, what happened with the
drone, is he alive or dead I can't say," the US Attorney said.
Fitzgerald also defended the plea agreement with
Headley.
"There is no doubt in my mind that we would have been
derelict in our duty if we didn't go after a deal with someone
who had sat down with Kashmiri, with Sajid Mir, with Major
Iqbal, someone who knew so much about these groups and these
plots. He gave us 34 more targets in India. It was a
no-brainer to me," he was quoted as saying.
He said the jury rejected the idea that Rana
remained a dupe once the carnage in India had happened. Email
and wiretap evidence showed that Rana was a willing and
knowing participant in Headley's reconnaissance for an attack
on a newspaper in Denmark that has become an internationally
known target of terrorists after publishing caricatures of
the Prophet Mohammad in 2005, he said.
"The jury could give Rana the benefit of a reasonable
doubt as to how much he knew about the Mumbai attacks,"
Fitzgerald told ProPublica.
"But Rana played a more direct role in Denmark. ...
And there was more corroborating evidence beyond Headley,
whose credibility was challenged by the defence. Jurors
naturally look for intrinsic corroboration. They want to
see something in black and white," he said. PTI LKJ
KAP