Headley was trained in Pak terror camps
The run-up to 26/11: LeT operative attended numerous courses on use of weapons
Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley had participated in terror camps being run by LeT in Pakistan despite promises by the then president Pervez Musharraf in 2002 to the Bush Administration that all such facilities will be shut down.
Headley, an LeT operative arrested in October 2009 by the FBI, had attended five such training camps run by the terror outfit between 2002-03, according to Headley’s plea agreement document which was submitted by US Attorney, Patrick J FitzGerald before a Chicago court on Thursday.
He attended a three-week course starting in February 2002 that provided indoctrination on the merits of waging jihad, next he participated in a three-week course starting in August 2002 for training in the use of weapons and grenades.
Headley learnt about close combat tactics, the use of weapons and grenades and survival skills during a three-month course in April 2003; he got trained in counter-surveillance skills in August 2003, and starting December 2003 he received combat and tactical training.
Notably in January 2002, Musharraf had said that he would not allow LeT to carry any anti-India activity inside Pakistan. But LeT ran terrorist training camps unabated even as Musharraf conducted back channel negotiations with India on the resolution of the Kashmir problem between 2002-2006, the agreement said.
“Starting in or about August 2002, defendant (Headley) attended a three-week course and received training in, among other skills, the use of weapons and grenades. Starting in or about April 2003, the defendant attended a three-month course and received training in various skills, including, but not limited to, close combat tactics, the use weapons and grenades, and survival skills,” the agreement said.
“Starting in or around August 2003, defendant attended a three-week course and received training in, among other skills, counter-surveillance. Starting in or around December 2003, defendant attended an approximately three month course and received combat and tactical training,” it said .
Headley had pleaded guilty on all 12 counts of charges against him in a Chicago court.
The plea agreement also proves beyond doubt the direct connection between LeT and al-Qaeda.
According to it, a retired Pakistani Major, Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed (Abdur Rehman), also known as “Pasha,” told Headley that if LeT did not help him in carrying out attack against the Danish newspaper, he would get someone else.
High drama
About a dozen US marshals took position inside the court of US District Judge Harry Leinenweber minutes before David Coleman Headley was escorted in, IANS reports from Chicago.
Attorneys and court reporters were for the first time put through a metal detector during this particular case. It was an unusually strong security ring whose purpose was not fully explained because his last appearance was considerably less guarded.
Headley was dressed in the standard prison issue orange jumpsuit and had his ankles chained but hands free. As Leinenweber went through the motions of establishing that he was mentally competent enough to realise the consequences of his pleading guilty to such serious charges, Headley answered politely indicating he understood.
The nearly 45-minute-long hearing featured high profile US Attorney Patrick J Fitzgerald who normally does not make court appearances in most cases. It was perhaps aimed at quietly underscoring the success of getting a guilty plea out of Headley on all counts.
It was a measure of how seriously this case was being tracked at the official level that Attorney-General Eric Holder was quoted as saying, “Today’s guilty plea is a crucial step forward in our efforts to achieve for the more than 160 people who lost their lives in Mumbai terrorist attacks. Working with our domestic and international partners, we will not rest until all those responsible for Mumbai attacks and the terror plot in Denmark are held accountable.”
“Not only has the criminal justice system achieved a guilty plea in this case, but David Headley is now providing us with valuable intelligence about terrorist activities,” Holder
said.
