Tahawwur Rana case: US names Pak ISI officer in second chargesheet on 26/11

[ravishingravi]

Washington: There is more proof of Pakistani Intelligence agency ISI's involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks. A second chargesheet has been filed in a US court in the Tahawwur Rana case. The chargesheet has named Sajid Mir, Abu Qahfa, Mazhar Iqbal, Lashkar member D and Major Iqbal. All these men are wanted in the 26/11 case except Lashkar member D. The Government of India has asked for voice samples of all four people wanted for the Mumbai terror attacks. India has maintained that Major Iqbal was working on behalf of the ISI to plan and execute the 26/11 terror attacks. Sajid Mir was most probably present in the Lashkar control room during the 26/11 attacks, according to Indian investigators. Abu Qahfa is said to be the Lashkar trainer who imparted GPS-handling and map-reading techniques to the attackers. All accused were charged, on Monday, in US district court in Chicago, with one count of conspiracy to murder and maim in India, while Mir, Abu Qahafa and Mazhar Iqbal have been additionally charged with conspiracy to bomb public places in India. None of them is in US custody. The revised indictment comes three weeks before the scheduled May 16 trial of Rana, a Canadian citizen who is accused of using his First World Immigration Services business to provide cover to Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley, to scout targets for the Mumbai attack. Headley, the son of an American mother and Pakistani father, pleaded guilty in March 2010 to 12 criminal counts, including aiding and abetting the murder of Americans in Mumbai, and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution in a plea deal to escape the death penalty. Mir, also known as "Wasi", aka "Ibrahim" and "Sajid Majeed", who reportedly joined the Pakistan based terror outfit LeT at age 16, allegedly worked as Headley's handler for two years. The new indictment says that "during the course of attacks in Mumbai, the attackers were in telephonic contact with defendants Sajid Mir, Abu Qahafa and Mazhar Iqbal, all of whom were then located in Pakistan". "More specifically, during the course of the attacks, the attackers were advised to, among other actions, kill hostages, set fires and throw grenades," the indictment said. "Sajid Mir also sought to arrange the release of a hostage in exchange for the release of a captured attacker." The US prosecutors also accused Mir of working with Headley to plan a terrorist attack on a Danish newspaper, which in 2005 published cartoons on Prophet Mohammed. There is also a warrant for Mir's arrest in India. During the Mumbai attack, Indian police intercepted phone calls between Mir and his terror teams in Mumbai. Terrorist group Harkat ul Jihad al Islami leader Ilyas Kashmiri and retired Pakistani military man Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed also were charged in a previous indictment but their whereabouts are unknown. Rana faces life imprisonment if convicted on the charges he provided material support to the Mumbai attackers. Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/tahawwur-rana-case-us-names-pak-isi-officer-in-second-chargesheet-on-26-11-104497?cp

[ganeshran]

I think its an open secret now that elements from ISI were involved in planning of 26/11 attack. Such an attack cannot be executed without state support to some level

[Stuge]

I dislike India; LeT boss motivated me: Headley

The Pakistani-American who spent months casing out Mumbai ahead of the 2008 attacks told a Chicago jury Monday that Pakistan's spy service supports terrorist group he worked with on the deadly siege. David Coleman Headley testified that Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) provided financial, military and moral support to banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). "I assumed these groups operated under the same umbrella -- they coordinated with each other," Headley told the jury as he described his path to terrorism and the bloody 60-hour siege of India's largest city that left 166 people dead. Headley described his relationship with an ISI handler identified as "Major Iqbal" who gave him $25,000 to help cover the cost of his surveillance work. "I told him what kind of (terrorist) training I did and he mentioned he was part of Lashkar" Headley said. Headley testified that after he told Iqbal of a plot he was working on in 2003, Iqbal asked him "to do something that was more important, which was intelligence work for the ISI." Headley formally admitted to 12 terrorism charges in March 2010 after prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty or to allow him to be extradited to either India, Pakistan or Denmark to face related charges. He was testifying at the trial of an old friend from military school in Pakistan -- Chicago businessman Tahawwur Hussain Rana -- who stands accused of providing Headley with a cover and acting as a messenger. The proceedings are likely to add fuel to a diplomatic crisis over suspicions of official Pakistani complicity with terrorism after US commandos killed ex-Al-QOsama bin Laden on May 2 in a garrison city just 55 kilometers (35 miles) from Islamabad. However, while US prosecutors named ISI officers as co-conspirators in the Mumbai attacks, it is not yet clear whether they were acting independently or with the approval and aid of senior officials. The Washington-born son of a former Pakistani diplomat and an American woman, Headley admitted to spending months scoping out sites for the Mumbai siege and plotting to kill a Danish cartoonist. In a plot that reads like a movie thriller, Headley spent two years scouting Mumbai, even taking boat tours around the city's harbor to identify landing sites for the attackers and befriending Bollywood stars as part of his cover. The attacks stalled a fragile four-year peace process between the two South Asian neighbors and nuclear-armed rivals which was only resumed in February. Rana -- who holds Canadian citizenship -- insisted after his 2009 arrest that he was a pacifist "duped" into letting his old friend use his immigration services company as a cover. In opening statements Monday, his lawyers tried to undermine Headley's credibility and insisted that Rana thought he was helping the ISI, not terrorists. "Headley is a master manipulator who made a fool of Dr. Rana," defense attorney Charlie Smith told jurors. "The question is that at the end of this case will David Headley make a fool out of all us. I'm confident he won't." But prosecutors said Rana knew exactly what he was doing, and told jurors they would hear secret recordings in which Rana praised the Mumbai attackers. "The defendant knew what Headley was doing and he helped him," said US Attorney Sarah Streicker. "In a complicated and sophisticated attack, not everyone carries a weapon. But support people are just as important." None of the other co-conspirators are in US custody and a spokesman for the US Attorney's Office declined to say whether the US government would be seeking their extradition or even knows their whereabouts. Headley -- who changed his name from Daood Gilani so he could hide his Pakistani heritage -- joined LeT in 2002, attending training camps five times over the next three years. He began working with an Al-Qaeda-linked group in Pakistan called Harakat-ul-Jihad al-Islami on the Danish plot after LeT became preoccupied with the final planning for the Mumbai attack. Headley was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare airport on his way to deliver 13 surveillance videos he obtained after pretending to be interested in buying ads in Jyllands-Posten, Denmark's highest circulation daily. The newspaper triggered a furor in the Muslim world by publishing 12 cartoons of Prophet Mohammed in 2005. Rana's trial is expected to last about four weeks.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hwPtX-UPCKp1ohd3nEW0ibdvxl6w?docId=CNG.0cc97a002f7eab51d35fbc2d30e32185.3c1 http://www.rediff.com/news/report/anniversary-26-11-i-dislike-india-lashkar-boss-motivated-headley/20110524.htm http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/23/mumbai-terror-pakistani-intelligence-headley

[asterix]

Follow this CAnadian Journalist on Twitter who is giving live updates about Headly't ongoing testimony in the court today. Fascinating.. http://twitter.com/#!/Colinfreeze Also follow this, if you wish to: http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23Ranatrial

[Rajiv]

- Seen many Pakis like that, "dislike" is chilling as its not just about pawning on the net but going so far I guess, they have special code of dislike in that pak military academy. Destroy the enemy b4 it destroys u

[Khalpat]

Guess what, they dislike Indians, they dislike Americans, they dislike Israelis, they dislike English. What more they dislike there own country also now a days. Itni Nafrat bhari hai unke ander, dont know how they manage to live with so much hatred.

[Rajiv]

What did these guys get? after all that planning etc..killed 100 odd ppl - ok, now what

[Rajiv]

With someone like headley, and this is pretty common with pak families that they bring up their kids with hate towards India. I met a 7 year old kid in god-awful-toronto who innocently said that he hated India. This was in a gathering, and I was completely surprised. I am not sure what the hate is for? we separated, mind your own business and stop putting ur nose in every damn muslim issue around the world including J&K

[Khalpat]

With someone like headley, and this is pretty common with pak families that they bring up their kids with hate towards India. I met a 7 year old kid in god-awful-toronto who innocently said that he hated India. This was in a gathering, and I was completely surprised. I am not sure what the hate is for? we separated, mind your own business and stop putting ur nose in every damn muslim issue around the world including J&K

That's the same question which comes to my mind also what exactly they tell their kids. For having so much hatred you must be having something to convince them.

[Rajiv]

^^ Maybe one of our Pakistani posters can tell us :cantstop: P.S - There was a similar question about Peace in the middle east and one of the news anchor said, there can't be unless they stop teaching their kids at home and replace the books, so this is the same concept

[Stuge]

Seems like they are told in nursery/home to learn this line by heart :I HATE INDIA " lol At present I must confess :I hate Pakistan from the core .Hatred become more, ever since serial bomb blasts in Delhi and Mumbai 26/11 attacks Before that, I never use to hate them that much nor I even care if India loses to Pakistan in a cricket match ,but now I just can't see them losing against pak [even though I keep reminding myself that its just a sport ] Gosh !!TO much of hate.. PEACE !!! "Live and Let live " #Edit :I don't want to hurt our Pakistani guests on ICF .So, if mod feels this post is out of context please delete it .

[Rajiv]

Terrorist Hamid Gul is blaming it on India as usual.

[Sir_Afridi]

Terrorist Hamid Gul is blaming it on India as usual.

Facts back him http://thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=15814

[Rajiv]

oopss..my post wast meant for http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?t=266454, yes I totaly agree on that link. Pakistani lost its case when they denied and then gradually accepted it so shut it

[Rajiv]

^^ Sir_afridi ko Aisa bouncer dalega to no ball ke jage pe 5 wide ho jayega

[donkey]

Do you understand what "fact" means ? Presenting a 2 yr old event when the chief architect barbarian has accepted the charges today ( that too in a US court and another Paki was caught red handed ) will work well in the practical classes of Lahori Logic in LMU. Real world works a bit differently.

Kargil all over again, their dead soldiers were left to rot like dogs and their proud nation refused to accept the bodies, until recently.

[Stuge]

Kargil all over again' date=' their dead soldiers were left to rot like dogs and their proud nation refused to accept the bodies, until recently.[/quote'] yep ,I have pictures of them .Kargil war book if I find time I will scan that book and post it here .

[Stuge]

^^ Sir_afridi ko Aisa bouncer dalega to no ball ke jage pe 5 wide ho jayega

:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::cantstop:

[Stuge]

- Seen many Pakis like that' date=' [i']"dislike" is chilling as its not just about

Too much of Facebook fever among Jihadis huh One second of Jihad =100 years of worship

[Stuge]

Indians 'deserved' 26/11, ISI plotted it: Rana trial

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 surveillan ce 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-Toiba (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 US-Pakistani tensions and increased interest in who may have known what about the Mumbai attacks. 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. Some Pakistanis accused in the case but not in US custody knew about Rana and were "appreciative of his assistance," she said in her opening statement to the jury in US 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 organisation. "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.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Indians-deserved-26-11-ISI-plotted-it-Rana-trial/H1-Article1-701488.aspx