Tuesday, May 17, 2011
David Headley
A Pakistani-American is expected to testify at a federal trial in Chicago that Pakistan’s intelligence agency supported the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai, India.
David Coleman Headley will tell how he began preparing for the attack two years in advance with the help of $25,000 provided by an officer in Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI). Another ISI officer also assured him of receiving financial help, according to Headley.
Headley’s upcoming testimony will be presented at the trial of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Chicago businessman accused of providing financial and other support for the November 26, 2008, attacks that killed 166 people, including six Americans.
Rana is expected to say in his defense that he agreed to support the attacks because he was led to believe Headley was working for the ISI.
Headley himself pleaded guilty in March 2010 to conspiracy to commit murder for his involvement in the Mumbai attacks.
In November, five families of those injured or killed in the attacks filed a federal lawsuit against the ISI, accusing its agents of helping Lashkar-e Tayyiba, the terrorist group responsible for the Mumbai acts.
If Headley’s testimony goes as expected, it is likely to further worsen relations between the U.S. and Pakistan over the loyalty of the ISI, which has long been suspected of aiding al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Chicago Trial May Unmask Pakistan’s Links to Militants (by Ginger Thompson and David Rohde, New York Times)
Mumbai Terror Victims’ Families Sue Pakistani Intelligence Agency (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)
Convicted Terrorist was on the DEA Payroll (by David Wallechinsky, AllGov)
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