http://www.investigativeproject.org/2899/testimony-details-mumbai-denmark-plots
“Testimony Details Mumbai, Denmark Plots”
by Abha Shankar
IPT News
May 25, 2011
SNIPPET: “CHICAGO – The terrorists responsible for the 2008 attack on Mumbai had plans for additional strikes against Indian military targets and against Jews, a former operative testified Tuesday.
David Headley’s testimony focused on details in the Mumbai attacks, which killed 166 people, including six Americans. Headley is a key witness against a Chicago businessman charged with aiding the plot.
Tahawuur Rana allowed his immigration company’s Mumbai office to serve as Headley’s cover to scout targets for the attacks for Lashkar-e-Tayyiba. Rana knew about the plot and supported it, Headley said. He has testified that members of Pakistan’s powerful intelligence services, the ISI, also helped plot and finance the attacks.”
“Headley provides more details about Mumbai attacks”
By Sebastian Rotella, Published: May 24
CHICAGO —
SNIPPET: “Headley said his ISI handler, a man known only as Major Iqbal, deployed him on the last of five reconnaissance missions to scout targets that included the Chabad House, a Jewish community center where gunmen later killed three American rabbis.”
http://www.investigativeproject.org/2919/trial-first-week-reinforces-pakistani
“Trial’s First Week Reinforces Pakistani Intelligence Suspicions”
by Abha Shankar
IPT News
May 27, 2011
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http://www.investigativeproject.org/2915/us-sees-lashkar-e-tayyiba-as-dangerous-as-al-qaida
For The Record - The IPT Blog
“U.S. Sees Lashkar-e-Tayyiba as Dangerous as al-Qaida”
by IPT News • May 27, 2011 at 12:34 pm
SNIPPET: “Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told top Indian security officials in New Delhi Friday that the Pakistan-based terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) is as much of a threat as al-Qaida.
“The LeT is ranked right up there with Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda-related groups as a terrorist organization, one that seeks to harm people and take innocent lives,” Napolitano said in a joint press conference with Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram. “In the US perspective, the LeT is an organization of the same ranking as the Al Qaeda-related groups.”
Napolitano’s assertion came in the midst of the trial of Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana, accused of complicity in the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people. A key witness in the trial, American-Pakistani David Coleman Headley, who has admitted to involvement in the attacks, has also implicated LeT and the Pakistani Intelligence service (ISI). LeT, however, denies any involvement.”
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http://www.investigativeproject.org/topics/51/lashkar-e-tayyiba
SNIPPET - quote:
http://www.investigativeproject.org/2928/headley-part-of-al-qaida-plot-to-attack-lockheed
For The Record - The IPT Blog
Latest Posts | Archive |
Headley Part of al-Qaida Plot to Attack Lockheed Martin
by IPT News • May 31, 2011 at 6:35 pm
Self-confessed Mumbai plotter David Coleman Headley testified Tuesday that he was part of an al-Qaida inspired plot to assassinate the chief of U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin.
The plot was the brainchild of Ilyas Kashmiri, leader of the Pakistan-based terrorist organization Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI), and a senior commander of al Qaida’s deadly 313 Brigade.
Headley is the key prosecution witness in the ongoing terrorism trial of a Chicago businessman, Tahawuur Hussain Rana. He used Rana’s immigration office in Mumbai as a cover to scout for targets for the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist strike. Ten gunmen from the Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) are suspected of being behind the plot that killed 166 people, including six Americans.
Headley has pleaded guilty to his role in the attacks and agreed to cooperate with federal investigators in exchange for evading the death penalty.
Headley told the jury he used Rana’s computer to research details about Lockheed Martin and its CEO for Kashmiri, who was outraged at American drone strikes in Pakistan and wanted to attack the U.S. defense contractor in retaliation.
“There was a plan to kill him because he was making drones,” Headley said.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/06/06/us-rana-trial.html
“Canadian’s defence team rests in U.S. terror trial”
CBC News Posted: Jun 6, 2011 2:33 PM ET Last Updated: Jun 6, 2011 4:44 PM ET
SNIPPET: “The defence team of a Canadian citizen accused in the United States of playing a crucial role in the 2008 Mumbai attacks rested its case on Monday after calling just two witnesses.
Tahawwur Rana, a 50-year old businessman from Ottawa, has been on trial in a Chicago courtroom for three weeks on several counts of providing material support for terrorism in connection with the Mumbai massacre and an unexecuted plot to attack a Danish newspaper.
Rana’s lawyers put on only a brief defence Monday, calling a computer expert and immigration lawyer. Rana did not testify in his defence.
Rana emigrated to Canada from Pakistan in 1997, staying just long enough to become a Canadian citizen before moving to Chicago to open a branch of his successful immigration consulting business.”
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/06/06/us-rana-trial.html
“Canadian’s defence team rests in U.S. terror trial”
CBC News Posted: Jun 6, 2011 2:33 PM ET Last Updated: Jun 6, 2011 4:44 PM ET
SNIPPET: “The defence team of a Canadian citizen accused in the United States of playing a crucial role in the 2008 Mumbai attacks rested its case on Monday after calling just two witnesses.
Tahawwur Rana, a 50-year old businessman from Ottawa, has been on trial in a Chicago courtroom for three weeks on several counts of providing material support for terrorism in connection with the Mumbai massacre and an unexecuted plot to attack a Danish newspaper.
Rana’s lawyers put on only a brief defence Monday, calling a computer expert and immigration lawyer. Rana did not testify in his defence.
Rana emigrated to Canada from Pakistan in 1997, staying just long enough to become a Canadian citizen before moving to Chicago to open a branch of his successful immigration consulting business.”
http://www.investigativeproject.org/2952/jury-deliberates-chicago-businessman-ties-to
“Jury Deliberates Chicago Businessman’s Ties to Mumbai, Denmark Plots”
by Abha Shankar
IPT News
June 8, 2011
SNIPPET: “Jury deliberations began Wednesday morning in the case of a Chicago businessman charged with aiding the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist strike. The attacks were carried out by armed militants from the Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT).
Tahawwur Rana’s immigration company provided cover to American Lashkar operative David Headley to scout targets for the attacks. Prosecutors say this was because he supported the attacks. Rana is charged with supporting the Mumbai plot, along with a plot in Denmark that was not carried out, and with support for the LeT.
Defense attorneys say he was manipulated by Headley, a childhood friend. Headley pleaded guilty in March 2010 and was the prosecution’s star witness in the trial. Headley admits making several trips to India to scout targets for the attacks, which killed more than 160 people, including six Americans.
“Rana helped Headley in his deadly plans,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Victoria Peters told jurors during closing arguments Tuesday. “He knows exactly who David Headley is and what David Headley is about and he fully approves.”
The trial garnered international attention because much of the testimony and evidence implicated Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence agency in the Mumbai plot. But in closing arguments, attorneys primarily focused on the actions of the defendant and his chief accuser.
Peters pointed to evidence, including e-mails, tape recordings and videotaped admissions, tying Rana to the Mumbai attacks and other plots. Those records show it was not just Headley’s word that led to Rana’s prosecution.”
Background Link no. 1:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2367275/posts
Background Link No. 2:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2138741/posts
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http://www.investigativeproject.org/2962/chicago-businessman-found-guilty-on-two-counts-in
For The Record - The IPT Blog
“Chicago Businessman Found Guilty on Two Counts in Terrorism Trial”
SNIPPET: “A federal jury Thursday found a Pakistan-born Chicago businessman guilty on charges of participating in a conspiracy to attack a Danish newspaper and providing material support to the Pakistan-based terror group, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT).
Tahawwur Rana was acquitted on the charge of conspiring to provide material support to the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist strike that killed over 160 people, including six Americans.
The verdict came after two days of jury deliberations following a trial that began May 16.
Prosecutors alleged Rana’s immigration company provided cover to American Lashkar operative David Headley to scout targets for the Mumbai attacks. David Headley pleaded guilty last year to his role in plotting the attacks and was the prosecution’s star witness in the trial.
In his testimony, Headley said Rana knew about the plot and supported it. He also testified that members of Pakistan’s powerful intelligence services, the ISI, also helped plot and finance the attacks.
Headley’s testimony was corroborated by other evidence presented at the trial, including e-mails, tape recordings and videotaped admissions, Assistant U.S. Attorney Victoria Peters said in her closing arguments Tuesday.
Prosecutors also claimed Rana assisted Headley in a plot to attack the offices of the Danish newspaper, Jyllands Posten. The newspaper’s 2005 publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad had unleashed a wave of protests across the Muslim world.”
http://news.intelwire.com/2011/06/surveillance-footage-shot-by-david.html
http://news.intelwire.com/2011/06/tahawwur-rana-interrogation-video.html
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Quote:
http://twitter.com/#!/intelwire/status/78803980456693761
@intelwire
J.M. Berger
If you haven’t checked them out already vids from Rana trial, Rana interrogation http://bit.ly/kpiV1R and Mumbai casing http://bit.ly/iYLZIZ
11 hours ago via TweetDeck Favorite Undo Retweet Reply
Retweeted by truthusadotcom
NOTE The following text is a quote:
www.fbi.gov/chicago/press-releases/2011/chicago-businessman-tahawwur-hussain-rana-guilty-of-providing-material-support-to-terror-group-and-supporting-role-in-denmark-terrorism-conspiracy
Chicago Businessman Tahawwur Hussain Rana Guilty of Providing Material Support to Terror Group and Supporting Role in Denmark Terrorism Conspiracy
U.S. Attorney’s Office
June 09, 2011
CHICAGO—A Pakistani native who operated a Chicago-based immigration business was convicted today of participating in conspiracy involving a terrorism plot against a Danish newspaper and providing material support to a terrorist organization based in Pakistan. The defendant, Tahawwur Hussain Rana, was found guilty by a federal jury that deliberated two days following a trial that began May 16 in U.S. District Court. The jury acquitted Rana of conspiracy to provide material support to the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, that killed more than 160 people, including six Americans.
Rana, 50, a Canadian citizen, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to provide material support to the terrorism plot in Denmark and one count of providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, Lashkar e Tayyiba (Lashkar.) He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison on the two counts combined and remains in federal custody without bond. U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber ordered the defense to file post-trial motions by Aug. 15. No sentencing date was set.
“The message should be clear to all those who help terrorists — we will bring to justice all those who seek to facilitate violence,” said Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
“Today’s verdict demonstrates our commitment to hold accountable not only terrorist operatives, but also those who facilitate their activities. As established at trial, Tahawwur Rana provided valuable cover and support to David Headley, knowing that Headley and others were plotting terror attacks overseas,” said Todd Hinnen, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security. “We will not rest in our efforts to identify and bring to justice those who provide support to terrorists.”
“The effort to combat terrorism and bring justice to the victims is a global effort, requiring the cooperation and collaboration of many countries and many people. We are grateful for our role and that of the Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force in bringing some measure of justice,” said Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Rana is the second defendant to be convicted among a total of eight co-defendants who have been indicted in this case since late 2009. Co-defendant David Coleman Headley, 50, pleaded guilty in March 2010 to all 12 counts against him, including aiding and abetting the murders of the six American victims. Headley, who is also facing a maximum sentence of life in prison, has cooperated with the Government since he was arrested in October 2009, and testified as a Government witness at Rana’s trial.
The six remaining defendants are all believed to be in Pakistan.
Headley testified that he attended training camps in Pakistan operated by Lashkar, a designated foreign terrorist organization, on five separate occasions between 2002 and 2005. In late 2005, Headley received instructions from members of Lashkar to travel to India to conduct surveillance, which he did five times leading up to the Mumbai attacks three years later that killed more than 160 people and wounded hundreds more.
In the early summer of 2006, Headley and two Lashkar members discussed opening an immigration office in Mumbai as a cover for his surveillance activities. Headley testified that he traveled to Chicago and advised Rana, his long-time friend since the time they attended high school together in Pakistan, of his assignment to scout potential targets in India. Headley obtained approval from Rana, who owned First World Immigration Services in Chicago and elsewhere, to open a First World office in Mumbai as cover for his activities. Rana directed an individual associated with First World to prepare documents supporting Headley’s cover story of opening a First World office in Mumbai, and advised Headley how to obtain a visa for travel to India, according to Headley’s testimony, as well as emails and other documents that corroborated his account.
Starting Nov. 26, 2008, and continuing through Nov. 28, 2008, 10 attackers trained by Lashkar carried out multiple assaults with firearms, grenades and improvised explosive devices against multiple targets in Mumbai, including the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, the Leopold Café, the Chabad House and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station, each of which Headley had scouted in advance. The six Americans killed during the three-day siege were Ben Zion Chroman, Gavriel Holtzberg, Sandeep Jeswani, Alan Scherr, his daughter Naomi Scherr, and Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum.
Regarding the Denmark terror plot, Headley admitted that in early November 2008, he met with a Lashkar member in Karachi, Pakistan, and was instructed to conduct surveillance of the Copenhagen and Aarhus offices of the Danish newspaper Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten in preparation for an attack in retaliation for the newspaper’s publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.
In late 2008 and early 2009, after reviewing with Rana how he had performed surveillance of the targets attacked in Mumbai, Headley testified that he advised Rana of the planned attack on the Danish newspaper and his intended travel to Denmark to conduct surveillance of its facilities. Headley obtained Rana’s approval and assistance to identify himself as a representative of First World and gain access to the newspaper’s offices by falsely expressing interest in placing advertising for First World in the newspaper. Before departing Chicago, Headley and Rana caused business cards to be made that identified Headley as a representative of the Immigration Law Center, the business name of First World, according to the evidence at trial.
The government’s evidence also included transcripts of recorded conversations, including those in September 2009, when Headley and Rana spoke about reports that co-defendant Ilyas Kashmiri, an alleged Pakistani terrorist leader, had been killed in a drone attack and the implications of his possible death for the plan to attack the newspaper. In other conversations, Rana told Headley that the attackers involved in the Mumbai attacks should receive Pakistan’s highest posthumous military honors. In the late summer of 2009, Rana and Headley agreed that funds that had been provided to Rana could be used to fund Headley’s work in Denmark, and the trial evidence showed that Rana, pretended to be Headley in sending an email to the Danish newspaper .
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Collins, Victoria J. Peters and Sarah Streicker, with assistance from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles are working jointly with their counterparts in Chicago on the broader investigation into the Mumbai attacks. The investigation has been conducted by the Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force, led by the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the FBI offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., as well as both U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2138741/posts?page=2945#2945
“Judge: Unseal Mumbai terror trial documents”
By Becky Schlikerman
Tribune reporter
12:26 p.m. CDT, July 19, 2011
SNIPPET: “A federal judge today ordered the release of more than two dozen sealed documents following the conviction last month of a Chicago businessman on charges he aided in a plot to storm a Danish newspaper that had printed cartoons that angered many in the Muslim world.
U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber ordered some 30 court filings made public after the Chicago Tribune intervened to unseal the records.
Tahawwur Rana was convicted of helping a friend since boyhood in the aborted plan to behead staffers at the Copenhagen newspaper.”
February 18, 2012
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_260800/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=3AM8gz0l
“Delhi court to try US terrorist Headley, 8 others”
Published: Today
SNIPPET: “NEW DELHI (AP) - A New Delhi court agreed Saturday to try admitted American terrorist David Headley and eight others for allegedly carrying out the deadly 2008 attacks in Mumbai, local media reported.
The court’s decision allows Indian investigators to seek Headley’s extradition from the United States, where he is in prison after admitting to laying the groundwork for the three-day shooting rampage in India’s largest city. However, his plea agreement with U.S. authorities said Headley would not be extradited if he cooperated with investigators.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2138741/posts
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http://www.newkerala.com/news/newsplus/worldnews-30241.html
“Fresh Summons issued against Headley”
SNIPPET: “New Delhi, May 31 : A Delhi court has again asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to present on Aug 6 LeT terrorist David Coleman Headley, jailed in the US for his role in the 2008 Mumbai attack.
It also issued fresh non-bailable warrants against Al Qaeda operative Illyas Kashmiri and four others, including two Inter- Service Intelligence (ISI) agents, sources said.
Issuing fresh summons, the court asked the NIA to bring before it Laskar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Headley who is in a US jail, on Aug 6. It had issued similar summons on March 13.”
http://www.investigativeproject.org/3892/maximum-sentence-sought-in-danish-cartoon-plot
For The Record - The IPT Blog
“Maximum Sentence Sought in Danish Cartoon Plot”
by IPT News • Jan 15, 2013 at 3:34 pm
www.fbi.gov/chicago/press-releases/2013/tahawwur-rana-sentenced-to-14-years-in-prison-for-supporting-pakistani-terror-group-and-terror-plot-in-denmark
Tahawwur Rana Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Supporting Pakistani Terror Group and Terror Plot in Denmark
U.S. Department of Justice
January 17, 2013
Office of Public Affairs
CHICAGO—A Pakistani native who operated a Chicago-based immigration business was sentenced today to 14 years in prison for conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist plot in Denmark and providing material support to Lashkar e Tayyiba, a terrorist organization operating in Pakistan that was responsible for the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India. The defendant, Tahawwur Hussain Rana, was convicted of the charges on June 9, 2011, following a three-week trial in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
Rana, 52, a Canadian citizen, was ordered to serve 14 years, followed by five years of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber. “This certainly was a dastardly plot,” Judge Leinenweber said in imposing the sentence.
Rana was convicted of conspiracy to provide material support to a plot from October 2008 to October 2009 to commit murder in Denmark, including a horrific plan to behead employees of Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten, a Danish newspaper, and throw their heads on to the street in Copenhagen, as well as providing material support, from late 2005 to October 2009, to Lashkar, a militant jihadist organization operating in Pakistan. Lashkar planned and carried out the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed more than 160 people, including six Americans, before initially planning the terrorist attack in Denmark in retaliation for the newspaper’s publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. Rana was acquitted of conspiracy to provide material support to the Mumbai attacks.
“This serious prison sentence should go a long way towards convincing would-be terrorists that they can’t hide behind the scenes, lend support to the violent aims of terrorist organizations, and escape detection and punishment,” said Gary S. Shapiro, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
“Today’s sentence demonstrates that, just as vigorously as we pursue terrorists and their organizations, we will also pursue those who facilitate their violent plots from a safe distance. As established at trial, Tahawwur Rana provided critical support to David Headley and other terrorists from his base in the United States, knowing they were plotting attacks overseas. I thank the many agents, analysts, and prosecutors who helped bring about today’s result,” said Lisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.
“It is my hope that the judge’s decision today sends a message to those who plot attacks and those who provide the support to make the plots possible, both here and abroad, that you will be held accountable for your actions. Our mission, detecting and preventing terrorist acts and eliminating the enabling support provided by terrorist sympathizers, remains our top priority,” said Cory B. Nelson, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the FBI.
Rana is one of two defendants to be convicted, among a total of eight defendants who have been indicted, in this case since late 2009. Co-defendant David Coleman Headley, 52, pleaded guilty in March 2010 to 12 terrorism charges, including aiding and abetting the murders of the six Americans in Mumbai. Headley, who is scheduled to be sentenced next Thursday, has cooperated with the government since he was arrested in October 2009 and testified as a government witness at Rana’s trial. He is facing a maximum of life in prison.
The evidence at Rana’s trial showed that he knew he was assisting a terrorist organization and murderers, knew their violent goals, and readily agreed to play an essential role in achieving their aims. The government contended that Rana knew the objective of his co-conspirators was to retaliate against and influence the Danish government for its perceived role in the publication of the Prophet Mohammed cartoons, and he knew that the goal of Lashkar was to retaliate against and influence the Indian and Danish governments and intended that the support he provided—enabling Headley’s activities—would be used toward that purpose.
In a post-arrest statement in October 2009, Rana admitted knowing that Lashkar was a terrorist organization and that Headley had attended training camps that Lashkar operated in Pakistan. Headley testified that he attended the training camps on five separate occasions between 2002 and 2005. In late 2005, Headley received instructions from members of Lashkar to travel to India to conduct surveillance, which he did five times leading up to the Mumbai attacks three years later that killed more than 160 people and wounded hundreds more.
In the early summer of 2006, Headley and two Lashkar members discussed opening an immigration office in Mumbai as a cover for his surveillance activities. Headley testified that he traveled to Chicago and advised Rana, his long-time friend since the time they attended high school together in Pakistan, of his assignment to scout potential targets in India. Headley obtained approval from Rana, who owned First World Immigration Services in Chicago and elsewhere, to open a First World office in Mumbai as cover for his activities. Rana directed an individual associated with First World to prepare documents supporting Headley’s cover story and advised Headley how to obtain a visa for travel to India, according to Headley’s testimony, as well as e-mails and other documents that corroborated his account.
Between November 26-28, 2008, 10 attackers trained by Lashkar carried out multiple assaults with firearms, grenades, and improvised explosive devices against multiple targets in Mumbai, some of which Headley had scouted in advance.
Regarding the Denmark terror plot, Headley testified that in the fall of 2008, he met with a Lashkar member in Karachi, Pakistan, and was instructed to conduct surveillance of the Jyllands-Posten newspaper offices in Copenhagen and Aarhus.
In late 2008 and early 2009, after reviewing with Rana how he had performed surveillance of the targets attacked in Mumbai, Headley testified that he advised Rana of the planned attack in Denmark and his intended travel there to conduct surveillance of the newspaper’s facilities. Headley obtained Rana’s approval and assistance to identify himself as a representative of First World and gain access to the newspaper’s offices by falsely expressing interest in placing advertising for First World in the newspaper. Headley and Rana caused business cards to be made that identified Headley as a representative of the Immigration Law Center, the business name of First World, according to the evidence at trial.
The trial evidence also included transcripts of recorded conversations, including those in September 2009, when Headley and Rana spoke about reports that a co-defendant, Ilyas Kashmiri, an alleged Pakistani terrorist leader, had been killed and the implications of his possible death for the plan to attack the newspaper. In other conversations, Rana told Headley that the attackers involved in the Mumbai attacks should receive Pakistan’s highest posthumous military honors. In late summer of 2009, Rana and Headley agreed that funds that had been provided to Rana could be used to fund Headley’s work in Denmark, and the evidence showed that Rana pretended to be Headley in sending an e-mail to the Danish newspaper.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Collins and Sarah E. Streicker, with assistance from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have worked on a broader investigation of the Mumbai attacks. The investigation has been conducted by the Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force, led by the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from FBI offices in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C., as well as both U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
http://www.investigativeproject.org/2962/chicago-businessman-found-guilty-on-two-counts-in
For The Record - The IPT Blog
“Chicago Businessman Found Guilty on Two Counts in Terrorism Trial”
Jun 9, 2011 at 11:26 pm
SNIPPET: “Tahawwur Rana was acquitted on the charge of conspiring to provide material support to the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist strike that killed over 160 people, including six Americans.
The verdict came after two days of jury deliberations following a trial that began May 16.
Prosecutors alleged Rana’s immigration company provided cover to American Lashkar operative David Headley to scout targets for the Mumbai attacks. David Headley pleaded guilty last year to his role in plotting the attacks and was the prosecution’s star witness in the trial.
In his testimony, Headley said Rana knew about the plot and supported it. He also testified that members of Pakistan’s powerful intelligence services, the ISI, also helped plot and finance the attacks.
Headley’s testimony was corroborated by other evidence presented at the trial, including e-mails, tape recordings and videotaped admissions, Assistant U.S. Attorney Victoria Peters said in her closing arguments Tuesday.
Prosecutors also claimed Rana assisted Headley in a plot to attack the offices of the Danish newspaper, Jyllands Posten. The newspaper’s 2005 publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad had unleashed a wave of protests across the Muslim world.”
NOTE The following text is a quote:
www.fbi.gov/chicago/press-releases/2013/david-colemen-headley-sentenced-to-35-years-in-prison-for-role-in-india-and-denmark-terror-plots
David Colemen Headley Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison for Role in India and Denmark Terror Plots
U.S. Department of Justice
January 24, 2013
Office of Public Affairs
WASHINGTON—David Coleman Headley, a U.S. citizen partly of Pakistani descent, was sentenced today to 35 years in prison for a dozen federal terrorism crimes relating to his role in planning the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, and a subsequent proposed attack on a newspaper in Denmark. Headley pleaded guilty in March 2010 to all 12 counts that were brought against him following his arrest in October 2009 as he was about to leave the country. Immediately after his arrest, Headley began cooperating with authorities.
Headley, 52, was ordered to serve 35 years, followed by five years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber. There is no federal parole and defendants must serve at least 85 percent of their sentence. “Mr. Headley is a terrorist,” Judge Leinenweber said in imposing the sentence.
“There is little question that life imprisonment would be an appropriate punishment for Headley’s incredibly serious crimes but for the significant value provided by his immediate and extensive cooperation,” the government argued in seeking a sentence of 30 to 35 years.
In pleading guilty and later testifying for the government at the trial of a co-defendant, Headley admitted that he attended training camps in Pakistan operated by Lashkar e Tayyiba, a terrorist organization operating in that country, on five separate occasions between 2002 and 2005. In late 2005, Headley received instructions from three members of Lashkar to travel to India to conduct surveillance, which he did five times leading up to the Mumbai attacks in 2008 that killed approximately 164 people, including six Americans, and wounded hundreds more. Headley’s plea agreement in March 2010 stated that he “has provided substantial assistance to the criminal investigation and also has provided information of significant intelligence value.”
In consideration of Headley’s past cooperation and anticipated future cooperation, which would include debriefings for the purpose of gathering intelligence and national security information, as well as testifying in any foreign judicial proceedings held in the United States by way of deposition, video-conferencing or letters rogatory, the Attorney General of the United States authorized the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago not to seek the death penalty.
“Today’s sentence is an important milestone in our continuing efforts to hold accountable those responsible for the Mumbai terrorist attacks and to achieve justice for the victims. Our investigations into Mumbai attacks and the Denmark terror plot are ongoing and active. I thank the many agents, analysts, and prosecutors responsible for this investigation and prosecution,” said Lisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.
Headley was convicted of conspiracy to bomb public places in India; conspiracy to murder and maim persons in India; six counts of aiding and abetting the murder of U.S. citizens in India; conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in India; conspiracy to murder and maim persons in Denmark; conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in Denmark; and conspiracy to provide material support to Lashkar.
According to Headley’s guilty plea and testimony, he attended the following training camps operated by Lashkar: a three-week course starting in February 2002 that provided indoctrination on the merits of waging jihad; a three-week course starting in August 2002 that provided training in the use of weapons and grenades; a three-month course starting in April 2003 that taught close combat tactics, the use of weapons and grenades and survival skills; a three-week course starting in August 2003 that taught counter-surveillance skills; and a three-month course starting in December 2003 that provided combat and tactical training.
Mumbai Terror Attacks
After receiving instructions in late 2005 to conduct surveillance in India, Headley changed his given name from Daood Gilani in February 2006 in Philadelphia to facilitate his activities on behalf of Lashkar by portraying himself in India as an American who was neither Muslim nor Pakistani. In the early summer of 2006, Headley and two Lashkar members discussed opening an immigration office in Mumbai as a cover for his surveillance activities.
Headley eventually made five extended trips to Mumbai—in September 2006, February and September 2007, and April and July 2008—each time making videotapes of various potential targets, including those attacked in November 2008. Before each trip, Lashkar members and associates instructed Headley regarding specific locations where he was to conduct surveillance. After each trip, Headley traveled to Pakistan to meet with Lashkar members and associates, report on the results of his surveillance, and provide the surveillance videos.
Before the April 2008 surveillance trip, Headley and co-conspirators in Pakistan discussed potential landing sites in Mumbai for a team of attackers who would arrive by sea. Headley returned to Mumbai with a global positioning system device and took boat trips around the Mumbai harbor and entered various locations into the device.
Between November 26 and 28, 2008, 10 attackers trained by Lashkar carried out multiple assaults with firearms, grenades, and improvised explosive devices against multiple targets in Mumbai, including the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, the Leopold Café, the Chabad House, and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station, each of which Headley had scouted in advance, killing approximately 164 victims and wounding hundreds more.
The six Americans killed during the siege were Ben Zion Chroman, Gavriel Holtzberg, Sandeep Jeswani, Alan Scherr, his daughter Naomi Scherr, and Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum.
In March 2009, Headley made a sixth trip to India to conduct additional surveillance, including of the National Defense College in Delhi, and of Chabad Houses in several cities.
Denmark Terror Plot
Regarding the Denmark terror plot, Headley admitted and testified that in early November 2008, he was instructed by a Lashkar member in Pakistan, to conduct surveillance of the Copenhagen and Aarhus offices of the Danish newspaper Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten in preparation for an attack in retaliation for the newspaper’s publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. After this meeting, Headley informed co-defendant Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed (Abdur Rehman), also known as “Pasha,” of his assignment. Abdur Rehman told Headley words to the effect that if Lashkar did not go through with the attack, Abdur Rehman knew someone who would. Although not identified by name at the time, Headley later learned this individual was co-defendant Ilyas Kashmiri. Abdur Rehman previously told Headley that he was working with Kashmiri and that Kashmiri was in direct contact with a senior leader of al Qaeda.
While in Chicago in late December 2008 and early January 2009, Headley exchanged e-mails with Abdur Rehman to continue planning for the attack and to coordinate his travel to Denmark to conduct surveillance. In January 2009, at Lashkar’s direction, Headley traveled from Chicago to Copenhagen to conduct surveillance of the Jyllands-Posten newspaper offices in Copenhagen and Aarhus and scouted and videotaped the surrounding areas.
In late January 2009, Headley met separately with Abdur Rehman and a Lashkar member in Pakistan, discussed the planned attack on the newspaper, and provided them with videos of his surveillance. About the same time, Abdur Rehman provided Headley a video produced by the media wing of al Qaeda in approximately August 2008, which claimed credit for the June 2008 attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, and called for further attacks against Danish interests to avenge the publication of the offending cartoons.
In February 2009, Headley and Abdur Rehman met with Kashmiri in the Waziristan region of Pakistan, where they discussed the video surveillance and ways to carry out the attack. Kashmiri told Headley that he could provide manpower for the operation and that Lashkar’s participation was not necessary. In March 2009, a Lashkar member advised Headley that Lashkar put the newspaper attack on hold because of pressure resulting from the Mumbai attacks. In May 2009, Headley and Abdur Rehman again met with Kashmiri in Waziristan.
Kashmiri told Headley to meet with a European contact who could provide Headley with money, weapons and manpower for the Denmark attack and relate Kashmiri’s instructions that this should be a suicide attack and the attackers should prepare martyrdom videos beforehand. Kashmiri also stated that the attackers should behead captives and throw their heads on to the street in Copenhagen to heighten the response from Danish authorities, and added that the “elders,” whom Headley understood to be al Qaeda leadership, wanted the attack to happen as soon as possible.
In late July and early August 2009, Headley traveled from Chicago to various places in Europe and met with and attempted to obtain assistance from Kashmiri’s contacts and, while in Copenhagen, he made approximately 13 additional surveillance videos. When he returned to the United States on August 5, 2009, Headley falsely told a U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspector in Atlanta that he had visited Europe for business reasons. On October 3, 2009, Headley was arrested at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, intending ultimately to travel to Pakistan to deliver the approximately 13 surveillance videos to Abdur Rehman and Kashmiri.
One of Headley’s co-defendants, Tahawwur Rana, 52, of Chicago, was sentenced last week to 14 years in prison for conspiracy to provide material support to the Denmark terror plot and providing material support to Lashkar. Headley testified for the government at Rana’s trial in June 2011.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Collins and Sarah E. Streicker, with assistance from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have worked on a broader investigation of the Mumbai attacks. The investigation was conducted by the Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force, led by the Chicago Office of the FBI, with assistance from FBI offices in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., as well as both U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.