Pakistani-Canadian convicted of terrorism, but cleared in Mumbai attacks
COLIN FREEZE
Globe and Mail Update
Published Thursday, Jun. 09, 2011 6:04PM EDT
Last updated Thursday, Jun. 09, 2011 6:42PM EDT
A Chicago jury has found Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana guilty of aiding a terrorist plot to attack a Danish newspaper, but found he did not have a role in planning the 2008 Mumbai massacre.
The trial has been closely watched because of allegations that agents in Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, had worked with a terrorist group known as Lashkar-e-Taiba to plot the carnage of more than 160 people in India's largest city.
The targets in India were scouted by David Headley, a Lashkar operative of mixed Pakistani and American heritage. Now a confessed terrorist, Mr. Headley testified in the hopes of minimizing his eventual sentence.
Mr. Headley, a lifelong friend of Mr. Rana, told the jury his friend had a role in helping him scout out sites for attack in India and for a distinct, but never executed, plot in Denmark that targeted the Jyllands Posten, which published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005.
The jury, which delivered a verdict late Thursday, partly agreed with Mr. Headley's testimony.
"A Federal Court jury has convicted defendant Tahawwur Rana on one count of conspiracy to provide material support to the Denmark terrorism plot and one count of providing material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba, " the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement released shortly after the verdict.
But it added Mr. Rana was "not guilty of conspiracy to provide material support to the Mumbai terrorist attacks in November 2008."
The jurors, who were not identified in court, declined to talk to the media to explain their split verdict. Though the jury found him not guilty of the most serious accusation, Mr. Rana still faces up to 30 years in prison on the other two charges.
“We're extremely disappointed. We think they got it wrong,” defence attorney Patrick Blegen told reporters.
At the centre of the trial was testimony by the government's star witness, Mr. Headley, Mr. Rana's longtime friend who had previously pleaded guilty to laying the groundwork for the Mumbai attacks and helping plot the attack against the Danish paper. That attack was never carried out.
Mr. Rana, who did not testify, was on trial for allegedly allowing Mr. Headley to open a branch of his Chicago-based immigration law services business in Mumbai as a cover story while Mr. Headley conducted surveillance ahead of the November, 2008, attacks. He was also accused of letting Mr. Headley travel as a representative of the company in Copenhagen.
The trial was highly anticipated because of Mr. Headley's testimony. His five days on the stand provided a rare glimpse into the inner workings of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which took credit for the Mumbai attacks, and the alleged co-operation with Pakistan's ISI. The trial started just weeks after Navy SEALs found Osama bin Laden hiding outside Islamabad, raising concerns that Pakistan may have been protecting the world's most wanted terrorist.
Pakistani officials have denied the allegations and maintained that they did not know about Mr. bin Laden or help plan the Mumbai attacks.
During his testimony, Mr. Headley described how he said he took orders both from an ISI member known only as “Major Iqbal” and his Lashkar handler Sajid Mir. Through emails, recorded phone conversations and his testimony, he detailed how he met with both men — sometimes together — and then communicated all developments to Mr. Rana.
Mr. Rana's defence attorneys spent much of the time trying to discredit Headley who they say duped his longtime friend. They attacked Headley's character saying how he initially lied to the FBI as he cooperated, lied to a judge and even lied to his own family. They claim he implicated Rana in the plot because he wanted to make a deal with prosecutors, something he'd learned after he became an informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration after two heroin convictions.
Mr. Headley's co-operation means he avoids the death penalty and extradition.
After the verdict was read, one of Mr. Rana's attorneys approached his wife and said, “I'm sorry,” then huddled with her in conversation. A day earlier, Mr. Rana's wife, Samraz Rana, told The Associated Press that Mr. Headley and her husband were not as close as prosecutors had portrayed during the trial.
While much of Mr. Headley's testimony had been heard before — both through the indictment and a report released by the Indian government last year — he did reveal a few new details. Among them was that another militant leader Ilyas Kashmiri, who U.S. officials believed to be al-Qaeda's military operations chief in Pakistan, had plotted to attack U.S. defence contractor Lockheed Martin. Mr. Kashmiri was reported killed on June 3 by U.S. drone attacks inside Pakistan. While U.S. officials haven't confirmed the death, Pakistani officials say they're certain Mr. Kashmiri is dead.
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