Headley, Rana implicate Pak in 26/11 - TOI – 13.4.11

Islamabad Exposed As Duo Claim To Have Acted On ISI Orders

Chidanand Rajghatta | TNN

Washington: David Headley aka Daood Gilani and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the two Pakistani expat foot soldiers who allegedly planned and conducted the Mumbai recce before the 26/11 terrorist carnage, have implicated the Pakistani government and its intelligence agency ISI in the ghastly attack.
    In court documents that have surfaced ahead of his upcoming trial in Chicago, Rana says his acts of providing material support to the terrorists in the Mumbai attacks as alleged by US prosecutors “were done at the behest of the Pakistani government and the ISI, not the Lashkar terrorist organization.” The documents also cite Rana invoking his friend David Headley’s Grand Jury testimony in which the latter too implicates ISI. The startling disclosures, which form part of Rana’s defence, came even as ISI chief Shuja Pasha is visiting Washington DC with a laundry list of demands as the US tries to repair ties which have been severely damaged by the Raymond Davis episode.
    The US effort comes despite growing disquiet about the ISI’s role in fomenting terrorism. Still, the Obama administration is scrambling to control fallout from the court proceedings in an effort to save its ally from being publicly exposed as a state sponsor of terrorism. The latest legal developments are not helping; in fact, they come at an embarrassing time for both sides.
    The disclosure that Rana and Headley are implicating the Pakistani government and its intelligence agency in the Mumbai attack came about indirectly when an Illinois district court rejected Rana’s attempt at what is known as a “Public Authority Defence,” in which the defendant essentially argues that he did something at the behest of a government or its official authority. Proposing such a defence, Rana told the Illinois court that “he acted pursuant to his actual or believed exercise of public authority on behalf of the government of Pakistan and the ISI.” This defence, Rana argued audaciously, would give him immunity from criminal proceedings in United States courts under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act because “the ISI has authority to act in India to protect Pakistan’s national interests” and he was acting at the behest of the ISI.
    While noting Rana’s argument “that he is entitled to a public authority defence because he acted under the authority — whether actual or apparent — of the Pakistani government and the ISI,” the court rejected it saying, “Defendant cannot rely on the authority of a foreign government agency or official to authorize his violations of United States federal law.” While the court rejected Rana’s attempted defence on technical grounds, his implicating Pakistani government and its intelligence agencies strengthens the widely held view in India and elsewhere that Islamabad’s reluctance to act against the perpetrators of attack points to official patronage of terrorism.
DAMNING REVELATIONS
Even as ISI chief was on tour in the US, startling disclosures of David Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana implicating Pakistan government and its intelligence agency in Mumbai terror attacks came to light. This may upset US’ efforts to save its ally from being exposed as a state sponsor of terrorism. Disclosures have come at an embarrassing time for both countries
ISI chief cuts short US visit, flies home
    Pakistan’s intelligence agency chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha left Washington abruptly after a 24-hour visit during which he reportedly conveyed to his American counterpart his military chief’s demand that the US withdraw scores of CIA and Special Operations forces in Pakistan and halt drone strikes. The US response to the demands was not immediately spelt out. P 15 US court rejects Rana’s plea to subpoena FBI
Washington: David Headley aka Daood Gilani and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the two Pakistani expat foot soldiers who allegedly planned and conducted the Mumbai recce before the 26/11 terrorist carnage, have implicated the Pakistani government and ISI in the attack.
    In its memorandum opinion and order, the court noted that Rana was citing David Headley's grand jury testimony in his attempt at Public Authority Defence. According to the court document, Headley's testimony before the Grand Jury included disclosure of his meetings with Sajid and others in Lashkar. "I also told him (the defendant Rana) about my meetings with Major Iqbal, and told him how I had been asked to perform espionage work for ISI," Headley says in his testimony.
    "Mr Rana's trial threatens to lend an aura of credence to the suspicions of ISI complicity," Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper, observed in an article (Rana is a Canadian citizen). However, in its order, the court rejected Rana's plea to subpoena the FBI and the state department for "any and all . . . cables originating from or transmitted to India, Pakistan or the US," regarding 26/11 and "any connections between the ISI and LeT."