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Rediff.com  » News » Headley received four 'jihadi' videos from Pasha

Headley received four 'jihadi' videos from Pasha

Source: PTI
July 22, 2011 15:39 IST
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David Headley, who has confessed to his involvement in the Mumbai attacks, had received four 'jihadi' videos from Lashkar-e-Tayiba's Pasha as part of the terror group's efforts to indoctrinate him.

During his interrogation, Headley recalled watching videos on Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten's controversial cartoons on Prophet Mohammad; military attack on Islamabad's Red Mosque where militants were holed up; and Afghan fighting, according to fresh court documents unsealed by the United States attorney office at the direction of the Chicago court this week.

"Headley first watched the cartoon video with Pasha (also known as Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed), when he returned to Pakistan, from Denmark, in January 2009. When Headley returned to Chicago in July 2009, he gave the Jyllands-Posten cartoons and Red Mosque videos to Tahawwur Rana and told him that these were more jihad videos and described the content," federal prosecutors said in the documents submitted to the court.

According to the court documents, Headley and Rana watched the Red Mosque video in the latter's living room with no one else present. "Headley said he liked the Red Mosque video and watched it many times with many people and that these types of videos were all over Pakistan. Anders Rasmussen was in the cartoon video and Headley had a discussion on his Yahoo chat group criticising the fact that Rasmussen was appointed head of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation," the unsealed court documents said. Rasmussen was the prime minster of Denmark when the cartoons were published and Headley said even though Rasmussen did not agree with the cartoons, he refused to apologise.

Headley also gave Rana the Afghanistan fighting video and Rana commented that they were fighting bravely after watching it, federal prosecutors said. Headley remembered watching a video reproduction of a car bomb, which was similar in quality to another car bomb reproduction shown to him by LeT's Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.

Headley watched videos like this with Lakhvi many times and they watched LeT videos as well, the FBI said, adding that Headley did not watch any of these videos with Major Iqbal, who is believed to be a serving Inter-Services Intelligence official. According to the unsealed documents, Headley said that while in Mumbai he stayed at the Taj Hotel and took many souvenirs, such as towels, a coffee cup and shoe bag. He gave the towels to LeT's Sajid Mir who then gave them to Lakhvi.

The unsealed court documents also explain the hand-written notes recovered from the luggage of Headley when he was arrested on October 3, 2009. "LSl" referenced the landing site. "CP meant contact point. "MS2" meant the second meeting spot.

The circle was a reference to defence in Urdu. Headley had no memory of what "321" meant. The reference to "white house" is a house located behind a bus stop by MS2.

"At entrance under date tree" was another contact point. He had no memory of the significance of "AL ABA RANA." "400 meters" and "300 meters" were distances to be travelled before making another chalk mark, the documents said.

Headley wrote these notes during a lesson taught by Iqbal on how to set up a meeting with an unknown person. "This was only a training class and was not operational in any way. There was some writing on the paper, which described markings on the back of Indian and Pakistani military vehicles. Headley was told by Iqbal that these markings described the vehicle based on the colours and numbers used," the court documents said, adding that Headley took notes, using coded language.

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