A US court in California has dismissed a status conference motion moved by imprisoned Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, who is sought for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, stating that it anticipates a ruling on his extradition to India within 30 days.
The United States administration on Friday said the 35-year sentence without parole imposed on Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist David Headley, one of the Mumbai terror attack plotters, marks another step in its efforts to bring to justice those responsible for 26/11.
Eminent public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, who was instrumental in sending Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving militant of 2008 Mumbai attack to the gallows, has termed David Headley's sentence as meagre in comparison to the brutality and heinousness of the crime.
The United States has sought a jail term of 30 to 35 years for American born Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist David Headley for his role in Mumbai attack and other terror activities.
Continuing its efforts to expose the role of state actors in Pakistan and the Lashkar-e-Tayiba chief in 26/11 attacks, India has again sent a fresh Letters Rogatory to Morocco for questioning of Faiza Outalha, Pakistani- American terrorist David Headley's estranged wife, after its earlier request was returned due to technical reasons.
As the debate rages on whether Ishrat Jahan and her accomplices were operatives of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba or not, there is increasing proof to show that she indeed had links with the outfit. Although the extent of her links is still unknown, she was considered to be a suicide bomber in the investigating and intelligence circles.
The home ministry will soon write to the US department of justice seeking a date for having direct access to Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist David Headley, who is currently under American custody.
The sentencing of American-born Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist David Headley, accused of involvement in 26/11 Mumbai attacks, has been fixed for January 17 next year while that of his accomplice Tahawwur Rana has been rescheduled for January 15 from December four.
India has sent a formal request to Morocco for examination and recording of statement of Faiza Outalha, Pakistani-American terrorist David Headley's estranged wife, to get more evidence against him as well as Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed.
India is likely to get access to Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist David Headley's United States-based wife Shazia, his two girlfriends and accomplice in Mumbai terror attack, Tahawuur Hussain Rana soon.
Stating that the Mumbai serial blasts 'renew questions' about Pakistan's crackdown on militants, the American media has pointed out that the latest attacks in India's financial hub had all the markings of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba which also carried out the 2008 terror strikes there.
Pakistani American terror operative David Headley's 'valuable information' to Federal Bureau of Investigation, mapping out Lashkar-e-Tayiba's hierarchy and providing organisational structure of the Pakistan-based terror outfit responsible for the Mumbai attacks, is of interest not only to America but also other countries, according to US prosecutors.
Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani refused an American request to confiscate the cell phone of jailed Lashkae-e-Tayiba commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi being used to direct group's operation from the Rawalpindi jail, reflecting connection between the country's military and the terrorist outfit.
Demanding death penalty for Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist David Headley, Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said he should be extradited to face trial in Indian courts for the killing of 166 people in the 2008 Mumbai terror strikes.
The United States on Friday said it would continue its hunt for dreaded terrorist Illyas Kashmiri, Lashkar-e-Tayiba handler Sajid Mir and four others involved in the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people, including six Americans. The six are named in the indictment in the case in a Chicago court, which is hearing charges against Tahawwur Rana and David Headley. Rana was on Thursday sentenced to 14 years in jail.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has told her Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar to take strong action against terrorist groups particularly Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Haqqani network, which is blamed for last week's deadly attack on American embassy in Kabul.
David Headley dominated the discussions between the CIA and their Indian counterparts on Monday.
Hundreds of members of hardline groups like the Jamaat-ud-Dawah on Friday joined protests across Pakistan against a controversial anti-Islam film, with many calling for severe punishment for the movie's makers and demanding the expulsion of American diplomats.
India is all set to ask the United States and Pakistan to extradite nine persons involved in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack that include Pakistani- American terrorist David Headley, Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed and two Inter-Services Intelligence officers.
Speaking at a hearing of the Foreign Relations Committee, Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said: "There are mixed signals here that are very, very troubling and that the United States needs to be able to have alternatives for carrying out its foreign policy in that region."
Another major terror attack in India by Lashkar-e-Tayiba has the potential to destabilise the region, a powerful American lawmaker has said, adding that this Pakistan-based militant outfit has increased its threat potential to the United States too.
Giving his testimony on the second day of the trial of 26/11 co-accused Tawahhur Rana, a Canadian of Pakistani origin, Headley, a Pakistani-American, talked about the hatred against Shiv Sena among his Pakistani handlers. 166 people were killed in the November 2008 attack in Mumbai.
Headley also said that LeT boss Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind behind the November 2008 attack that killed 166 persons, motivated him for carrying out a 'jihad'. Saeed told him that the satisfaction of one second of 'jihad' is equal to "100 years of worship."
Evidently on the strength of continuing information provided by Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative and Pakistani American David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, who was an integral protagonist in the conspiracy that led to the horrific 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, four new Lashkar handlers of Headley have been chargesheeted in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago).
The National Investigation Agency will soon file a charge sheet against Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Headley, a mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
The 26/11 Mumbai attacks could have been averted if the then Bush Administration had taken seriously the warning and threat perception of Lashkar-e- Tayiba's global operations by a renowned French judge, a media report has claimed.
There has been a huge cover-up of the LeT iceberg in India that helped David Headley and Tahawwur Rana plan the 26/11 terror strike, says B Raman
Describing it as "frivolous", the Bombay high court on Wednesday rejected a defence lawyer's petition seeking removal of Ujjwal Nikam as special public prosecutor in the 26/11 attacks case.
National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon and United States Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher agreed that there was a need for Pakistan to eliminate Lashkar-e-Tayiba, but differed on the tactics to be adopted for such an exercise.American embassy diplomatic cables leaked by the whistle-blowing web site WikiLeaks reveal that US diplomats made repeated efforts to reassure their often frustrated Indian counterparts.
Did Pakistani-American terror suspect David Headley try to eliminate his woman 'friend' -- a former woman hotel executive -- who could provide vital evidence to investigators?
Bangladesh has handed over three suspected Lashkar-e-Tayiba operatives to Pakistan, a year after they were arrested on suspicion of plotting attacks on Indian and American embassies in Dhaka, officials said.
'The Americans never or hardly give complete information, only information that directly affects them is shared.' Indian intelligence agents challenge The Siege's version of the 26/11 attacks in conversations with Vicky Nanjappa.
However, Rana's lawyer Patrick Blegen has said in a new motion filed in a Chicago court that as a result of FBI raids on Rana's businesses and his detention, his businesses have effectively been shut down and are worth nowhere near what they were previously estimated. According to court filings, Rana allegedly conspired to bring foreigners to the US under false pretences.
The Indian establishment may get a leverage while talking to American officials on bilateral efforts of counter-terrorism while the media splashes scary details about what Headley did in India, points out Sheela Bhatt
"Indeed, nearly all of the jihadi groups operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban, the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani network, LeT, and others have joined together in an extended terrorist network that shares the same goals, including destabilising Afghanistan and destroying the Pakistani state," said Congressman Howard Berman, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Pakistan has handed over another dossier on Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Coleman Headley to India seeking more information about his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik met Interior Minister Rehman Malik in Islamabad, briefing him over the latest development concerning the issue.Headley, an American citizen of Pakistani origin, was arrested by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in October 2009.
The trial of Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana who is accused with David Coleman Headley for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks began in Chicago on Tuesday.
US special forces came away with hard drives, DVDs and a trove of documents from the Abbottabad safe house of Osama bin Laden which might tip American intelligence to Al Qaeda's operational plan and lead the manhunt to his presumed successor Ayman al Zawahiri.
The family of Ishrat Jahan, the teenage from Mumbra near Mumbai who was killed in an encounter along with three other alleged terrorists have dismissed the news report attributed to National Intelligence Agency which claimed that Ishrat was a Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative.
Ambassador Daniel Benjamin, coordinator for counter-terrorism at the United States department of state, has made it abundantly clear that his office will not influence law enforcement authorities via any diplomatic lobbying to provide India with direct access to Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Coleman Headley. Pakistani-American Headley was part of the conspiracy for the horrific terror attacks that shook Mumbai on November 26, 2008 and left 166 people dead.