Pak military, intelligence hand in glove with militants: US media
CIA chief confronts Pak over collusion with terrorists
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CHICAGO: The Chicago trial of Tahawwur Rana shows how a growing number of serving and former Pakistani military and intelligence officers have put their lethal talents at the service of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), al-Qaida and other militant groups, a US media report has said.
"Headley testified that the Mumbai plot was a joint operation in which he was directed by Major Iqbal of the ISI and LeT handler named Mir. The defence established that Rana communicated with Major Iqbal, but not any Lashkar masterminds," wrote investigative journalist, Sebastian Rotella, on ProPublica.Com.
The Chicago court acquitted Rana on charges of plotting the 2008 Mumbai attacks but held him guilty of supporting Pakistan-based terror group LeT and planning a strike in Denmark that will get him a maximum of 30 years in jail.
"The verdict suggested a common-sense analysis by the jury," Rotella said. During his five days of testimony, the confessed American terrorist and Pakistani spy David Coleman
Headley delivered explosive revelations about how officers in the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate funded, supported and directed the 2008 Mumbai attacks along with LeT.
"The case also showed how a growing number of serving and former Pakistani military officers have put their lethal talents at the service of Lashkar, al-Qaida and other groups. It revealed the impunity with which ISI officers and terrorists alike operate in Pakistan even when they target Americans and other Westerners," the report said.
"Rana's lawyers argued that Headley, Rana's boyhood friend, was a skilled manipulator who convinced Rana that he was doing intelligence for the ISI against India, Pakistan's arch-enemy, and kept him in the dark about the Mumbai plot," the story said. "The acquittal on the charge of supporting the Mumbai plot indicates that the jury accepted that argument. But they apparently rejected the idea that Rana remained a dupe once the carnage in India had happened," it said.
"Headley soon enlisted Rana to assist his reconnaissance on a newspaper in Denmark that has become a internationally known target of terrorists after publishing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in 2005. Because Rana was a devout Muslim, it seems hard to believe he did not suspect anything at that point," the report said.
ProPublica said the jury did not get the whole story. "Headley had already pleaded guilty to doing reconnaissance in Mumbai and for a plot in Denmark. The official focus of the trial was the narrower issue of charges of material support of terrorism against Rana, who owns an immigration consulting firm in Chicago," it said.
"He was accused of supporting Headley's reconnaissance for the Mumbai and Denmark attacks and of overall support for LeT. Prosecutors charged that Rana let Headley open an office of the firm in Mumbai and use the business as cover for his surveillance in India and Denmark," Rotella said.
The trial also left enduring mysteries, ProPublica said, noting that it did not answer questions about whether Sajid Mir, a Lashkar mastermind caught on tape directing the Mumbai carnage over the phone, was once a Pakistani military officer. It did not explore the extent to which ISI chiefs beyond Headley's handler, known only as Major Iqbal, were aware of the Mumbai plot.
"Headley testified that the Mumbai plot was a joint operation in which he was directed by Major Iqbal of the ISI and LeT handler named Mir. The defence established that Rana communicated with Major Iqbal, but not any Lashkar masterminds," wrote investigative journalist, Sebastian Rotella, on ProPublica.Com.
The Chicago court acquitted Rana on charges of plotting the 2008 Mumbai attacks but held him guilty of supporting Pakistan-based terror group LeT and planning a strike in Denmark that will get him a maximum of 30 years in jail.
"The verdict suggested a common-sense analysis by the jury," Rotella said. During his five days of testimony, the confessed American terrorist and Pakistani spy David Coleman
Headley delivered explosive revelations about how officers in the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate funded, supported and directed the 2008 Mumbai attacks along with LeT.
"The case also showed how a growing number of serving and former Pakistani military officers have put their lethal talents at the service of Lashkar, al-Qaida and other groups. It revealed the impunity with which ISI officers and terrorists alike operate in Pakistan even when they target Americans and other Westerners," the report said.
"Rana's lawyers argued that Headley, Rana's boyhood friend, was a skilled manipulator who convinced Rana that he was doing intelligence for the ISI against India, Pakistan's arch-enemy, and kept him in the dark about the Mumbai plot," the story said. "The acquittal on the charge of supporting the Mumbai plot indicates that the jury accepted that argument. But they apparently rejected the idea that Rana remained a dupe once the carnage in India had happened," it said.
"Headley soon enlisted Rana to assist his reconnaissance on a newspaper in Denmark that has become a internationally known target of terrorists after publishing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in 2005. Because Rana was a devout Muslim, it seems hard to believe he did not suspect anything at that point," the report said.
ProPublica said the jury did not get the whole story. "Headley had already pleaded guilty to doing reconnaissance in Mumbai and for a plot in Denmark. The official focus of the trial was the narrower issue of charges of material support of terrorism against Rana, who owns an immigration consulting firm in Chicago," it said.
"He was accused of supporting Headley's reconnaissance for the Mumbai and Denmark attacks and of overall support for LeT. Prosecutors charged that Rana let Headley open an office of the firm in Mumbai and use the business as cover for his surveillance in India and Denmark," Rotella said.
The trial also left enduring mysteries, ProPublica said, noting that it did not answer questions about whether Sajid Mir, a Lashkar mastermind caught on tape directing the Mumbai carnage over the phone, was once a Pakistani military officer. It did not explore the extent to which ISI chiefs beyond Headley's handler, known only as Major Iqbal, were aware of the Mumbai plot.
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