During cross examination Thursday in a Chicago court by lawyers defending his longtime friend Pakistan born Tahawwur Rana, Headley aka Daood Gilani said Iqbal used this phone because he believed most phone calls between Pakistan and India were monitored.

"It (Iqbal's phone) was a fairly unique cell phone?" asked Rana's lawyer Charles Swift.

Headley: "Major Iqbal had a unique cell phone (with US number). Through that he contacted me when I was in India. He gave me the number."

Swift: "He told (you) if something important call us on this number."

Headley: "I had a cell phone in India. If it was urgent, he would call me."

Asked why the mysterious Major Iqbal had a US phone number, Headley, who is charged with scouting targets in Mumbai, said it was because he believed most phone calls between Pakistan and India were monitored.

Major Iqbal apparently used a cell phone with a New York number to stay in touch with Headley while he was in Mumbai scouting targets and suitable landing sites for the terrorists and taking videos ahead of the attacks.