A video of the Federal Bureau of Investigation interrogation of Tahawwur Rana, a key suspect in the Mumbai attacks, has been screened for the first time by the prosecution in his trial at a court in Chicago, in which he is shown talking about Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence giving weapons to co-accused David Headley.
The trial of Pakistani-Canadian terror suspect Tahawwur Rana, charged with involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks, is expected to begin on November 1, with a US district court judge in Chicago saying on Tuesday that the process should start "sooner than later".
Citing the need to be better prepared for trial, Pakistani-Canadian terror suspect Tahawwur Rana has asked the US government to provide him "specific" details of the kind of "material support" he provided to terror acts, saying so far the prosecution's allegations in the superseding indictment have been "vague".
The status hearing of Pakistani-Canadian terror suspect Tahawwur Rana, charged with conspiring in the Mumbai terror attacks of November 2008, was on Wednesday adjourned for four weeks. "The hearing, originally scheduled for August 25, has now been shifted to September 20," Rana's attorney Patrick W Blegen said
Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana was involved in the Mumbai attacks and he and his friend David Headley were part of the same team that carried out the terror assault in 2008, a US federal attorney told a Chicago court on Tuesday.
Investigators told rediff.com that more than two people within the Indian Mujahideen provided logistical support to David Headley and his accomplice Tahawwur Rana to survey the targets that were attacked during 26/11.
Federal prosecutors have objected to terror suspect Tahawwur Rana's demand for specific details about his involvement in Indian and Danish terror plots, saying the government has already provided "more than sufficient" information to prepare his defence for trial.
Apparently gloating over the mayhem the Pakistani attackers were creating in Mumbai, Tahawwur Rana, a co-accused had proposed that nine of the ten Lashkar-e-Tayiba militants who carried out the carnage should be decorated with Pakistan's highest military award, Nishan-e-Haider.
In a bid to seek bail, Mumbai terror attack terror suspect Tahawwur Rana on Thursday told a Chicago court that his escape from the United States will only force him to live as an 'international fugitive' and his knowledge of immigration business will not help him run from a 'federal indictment'. Charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists in India, Rana filed in the US District Court his 7-page reply to the government's response to the motion made by him
Pakistani-Canadian terror suspect Tahawwur Rana will have to spend more days in custody after a United States judge on Thursday did not hear his bail plea, saying an expected indictment against him may send the case to a different judge. But the prosecutors said they expect to obtain an indictment against Rana, under investigation for possible links to the Mumbai terror attacks, by January 14. After the indictment, Rana's case could be handled by a different judge.
In a six-page motion filed in the US District Court, Northern District of Illinois, his lawyer Patrick Blegen sought "particulars" regarding the charge in the indictment that says Rana, a Chicago-based businessman, conspired to provide material support to terrorism in India and Denmark.
The United States, which foiled a major terror plot by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba to target India, has cited legal limitations in allowing Indian investigators to quiz arrested operatives David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Rana. US National Security Adviser James Jones said President Barack Obama has shown personal interest in the Headley-Rana case and the matter was discussed during his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday.
Tahawwur Rana was on Thursday held not guilty on charges of involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks by a United States federal court which convicted him for providing material support to Pakistan-based terror group LeT and for plotting an attack in Denmark.
Samraz, the wife of Mumbai attacks co-accused Tahawwur Rana, said on Tuesday that India was her second home and there was no reason her husband would have planned to attack that country.
Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Headley approached the Inter-Services Intelligence to help another co-accused in Mumbai attacks Tahawwur Rana to get back to Pakistan, according to a video recording produced by the Federal Bureau of Investigation before a court in Chicago on Monday.
Pointing at Inter Services Intelligence's direct involvement in providing arms to militants in Kashmir, Tahawwur Rana, one of the key accused in the Mumbai terror attacks, has told the Federal Bureau of Investigation that Pakistan's spy agency gives weapons to terrorists when they are about to enter the Indian territory.
The United States prosecutors on Tuesday sought 30 years' imprisonment for Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana, an accomplice of convicted terrorist David Headley, for providing material support to Laskar-e-Tayiba and conspiring for a terror attack on a Danish newspaper.
Intelligence sources told rediff.com that the duo had both video footage and photographs of the targets that were attacked on November 26.
Rejecting terror suspect Tahawwur Rana's demand for more details on his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, the United States prosecutors on Wednesday said they have already provided 'more than sufficient' information in the form of over 20,000 documents to him to prepare his defence.
The nine targets struck under 'Operation Sindoor', four in Pakistan and five in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, were chosen by the IAF after receiving intelligence inputs about terror camps operating under the guise of health centres to evade detection at these sites, officials said on Wednesday.
A federal grand jury on Thursday returned a superseding indictment adding Chicago native Tahawwur Rana, Pakistan-based terrorist leader Ilyas Kasmiri and a retired major in the Pakistani military Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed, to charges filed last month against Pakistani American and Laskhar-e-Tayiba operative David Coleman Headley.
India has said that it would like to get "access" to arrested US terror suspects David Coleman Headley and his accomplice Tahawwur Rana for interrogation following incriminating evidence about their role in the Mumbai attacks.
United States prosecutors have sought 58 days extension from November 19 to file indictment against Tahawwur Rana, accused of being part of a LeT terror plot in India, saying that the Federal Bureau of Investigation needs more time to diligently examine fresh evidence unearthed against him in recent raids.
A United States court on Wednesday rescheduled the sentencing of Pakistani American LeT terrorist David Headley, accused of involvement in 26/11 Mumbai attacks, from January 17 to January 24, while that of his accomplice Tahawwur Rana has been rescheduled for a second time to January 17.
Pakistani-Canadian terror suspect Tahawwur Rana under investigation for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, has stuck to his 'not guilty' plea to terror charges and is headed for trial, will appear before a US court in Chicago on May 11 for a status hearing in the case.
The imminent trial of Pakistan-born Canadian citizen Tahawwur Rana, co-accused with David Headley in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, could reveal Inter Services Intelligence's links to terrorists, according to a news report.
The 12-member jury of a federal court in Chicago on Wednesday began deliberations against Tahawwur Rana, charged with involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks, planning of a similar strike in Denmark and providing material support to Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Tayiba.
India on Thursday said it will seek access to Tahawwur Rana, an accomplice of convicted terrorist David Headley from the United States and maintained that its demand for their extradition "continues to stand" to take forward its legal processes in Mumbai terror strike cases.
Judge Harry Leinenweber at the US district court for the northern district of Illinois, eastern division, in a ruling denied Rana's motions for a new trial and for a judgment of acquittal. In two different orders on June 7 and 8, Leinenweber also scheduled his sentencing for December 4. However, no sentencing has been scheduled for his co-defendant David Headley
The United States government will not appeal against a Chicago court verdict which found Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana not guilty on charges related to his involvement in the Mumbai terrorist attacks. "After sentencing, Rana may appeal his conviction on the two counts, but the government cannot appeal the jury's finding of not guilty on the Mumbai count," said a Justice Department official.
Lashkar-e-Tayiba operatives David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Rana, friends from a military school in Pakistan and facing charges of conspiring 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, have not been in contact with each other or met despite being in the same federal lock-up.
India is expected to get information about the plans and network of Lashkar-e-Tayiba operatives David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Rana next week when a high-level team of the Federal Bureau of Investigation visits New Delhi with "all details" of their probe.
Over a year after the National Investigation Agency got access to 26/11 conspirator David Headley, a metropolitan court has issued letters rogatory to a US court requesting it to enable the Mumbai police to question him and his alleged accomplice Tahawwur Rana in the Mumbai attack case.
The rejection by a Chicago court to conduct a retrial plea of Tahawwur Rana, the Pakistani-Canadian accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks is a shot in the arm for the Indian agencies who have been looking to question him, says Vicky Nanjappa.
The much hyped-up trial of Pakistani-Canadian 26/11 terror accused Tahawwur Rana has finally come to a close in the United States and one could say with confidence it did not end the way in which many, especially in India, would have expected it to be.
The Indian government on Friday said the verdict in the Tahawwur Rana case in a United States court, holding the Pakistani-Canadian not guilty for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, is not a setback. The government said India does not rely overtly on prosecution of terror suspects in other countries.
The United States government has asked a court in Chicago to deny Pakistan-born Canadian Tahawwur Rana's plea for a new trial in cases related to the Mumbai and Denmark terror plots, arguing that the court was right in convicting him for aiding Lashkar-e-Taiba.
India continues to be optimistic even though Tahawwur Rana has been acquitted of charges of involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks by a United States court.
The 12-member jury of a federal court in Chicago held close-door deliberations for six hours on Wednesday against Tahawwur Rana, who is charged with involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks and providing material support to Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Tayiba, and will continue the process. The jury posed two questions to the defence and prosecution. It asked whether Pasha (Abdur Rahman, a retired Pakistani Army major), was involved with the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.
India indicated the possibility of gaining access to terror suspects David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Rana, both arrested by FBI, once they are "indicted" by the US.
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