Tahawwur Rana's status hearing adjourned till Sept 20

"The hearing, originally scheduled for August 25, has now been shifted to September 20," Rana's attorney Patrick W Blegen told PTI.

In June, US District Court Judge Harry Leinenweber rescheduled trial hearing of Rana to February 14, 2011 from November 1, 2010.

49-year-old Rana was accused along with Pakistani- American David Headley in a 12-count superseding indictment for plotting the Mumbai terror attacks and providing material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba to carry out the assault that left 166 people dead.

Rana, a Chicago-based businessman, was indicted by a federal grand jury on February 15. He is also accused of plotting an attack on a Danish newspaper which published cartoons of Prophet Mohammad.

Rana has pleaded not guilty since his October 2009 arrest and claimed that he was duped by Headley.

However, according to Headley's plea agreement, he shared with Rana details of his trips to Pakistan and his association with LeT. In turn, Rana extensively helped him carry out the attacks in Mumbai.

Rana also allowed Headley to use his immigration office -- First World Immigration Services -- as a cover while he scouted for terror targets in Mumbai, the plea agreement stated.
Headley had pleaded guilty in March to plotting the Mumbai terror attacks.