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Jailed American Testifies About Islamist Involvement in Mumbai Attacks

NEW DELHI—
An American in a U.S. jail for his role in the 2008 terror attacks that killed 166 people in Mumbai, India, told an Indian court a Pakistan-based Islamic terror group made two failed attempts to mount terror strikes in the city in the months prior to the assault.

David Headley, who is serving a 35-year-sentence for his role in making preparations for the attacks, testified in an Indian court via video link from an undisclosed location in the United States.

Headley’s deposition is expected to give India more ammunition as it continues to press Pakistan to act against those who planned the Mumbai terror strikes, which New Delhi has long blamed on the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Mumbai attacks

In 2008, 10 heavily armed gunmen mounted coordinated raids that lasted three days on the city’s main rail station, a Jewish center and five-star hotels.

Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told reporters Headley said he joined the LeT in 2002 after listening to lectures by Hafiz Saeed, the group’s founder who urged waging “jihad” to free Kashmir from Indian rule.

“They said they should do the jihad. Then I asked the meaning of jihad and he said to fight against the Indian army,” Nikam quoted Headley as saying.

Headley has an American mother and a Pakistani father.

Nikam said Headley, who scouted for locations during seven visits to Mumbai prior to the strike, also revealed he met with officials of Pakistan’s spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence.

The 2008 attacks in Mumbai continue to strain relations between the two rivals, with India blaming Pakistan for not doing enough to punish those responsible, and Islamabad saying New Delhi has failed to provide sufficient evidence to win convictions.

Last week, the Indian foreign ministry reacted strongly after Saeed warned of more terror attacks of the kind mounted last month on an Indian air base in Pathankot.

"Saeed is a globally designated terrorist. It is a matter of grave concern that he can enjoy freedom in Pakistan," the statement said.

Tensions

The Pathankot attacks put strains on ties between the two countries just as they appeared to be improving.

Talks between their foreign secretaries have been postponed and no new date has been set for the dialogue.

Kiren Rijiju, India’s junior Home Minister, said Headley's testimony would lead to a logical conclusion in the Mumbai case.

Information provided by Headley, which included information about his background and the "working systems, supports, backups. ... It will help us," Rijiju said.

The United States has turned down India’s request for Headley’s extradition, but a conditional pardon given by an Indian court in December allowed him to become a witness.

His deposition came in connection with the trial of an Indian national, Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari, who is allegedly one of the plotters in the Mumbai terror attacks.

Jailed American Testifies About Islamist Involvement in Mumbai Attacks

Analysts Not Surprised by Release of Suspected 2008 Mumbai Attacks Mastermind

WASHINGTON — Anti-terrorism analysts in Washington and New Delhi are critical of Pakistan's decision to release a man accused of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed 160, but some say they are not surprised by the move. U.S. officials say Hafiz Saeed is a terrorist.


He was set free by Pakistani authorities after 11 months of house arrest in the eastern city of Lahore on Friday. Earlier last week, a judicial panel of Lahore High Court said there was not enough evidence to continue Saeed’s detention.


While the news of Saeed’s release has caught worldwide attention, some experts on South Asian affairs say Pakistan's move was bound to happen - sooner or later. “I see Saeed's release as totally unsurprising. This is a story that's played out multiple times in recent history: He is put under house arrest only to be released,” Michael Kugelman, a Washington-based South Asian analyst associated with the Woodrow Wilson Center told VOA.


“Pakistani legal authorities had said all along that there was not sufficient evidence to keep him detained, so it was just a matter of time before he was released,” Kugelman added.


Hafiz Saeed is the head of Jamaat-ud-Dawa group (JuD) and Falah-e-Insaniat foundation (FIF), both of which have been declared terrorist organizations by the U.S. and the U.N. Security Council. Jamaat-ud-Dawa is widely believed to be the front of Hafiz Saeed’s Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) which was included into the U.N.’s terrorist groups list in 2005.



US ‘deeply concerned’


U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said Saeed should be arrested and charged for his crimes. “The United States is deeply concerned that Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) leader Hafiz Saeed has been released from the house arrest in Pakistan. LeT is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization responsible for the death of hundreds of innocent civilians in terrorist attacks, including a number of American citizens,” Nauert said.


India, which alleges Saeed was mastermind of Mumbai carnage in 2008, has also reacted strongly to his release. India’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said that a “self-confessed and U.N.-proscribed terrorist was being allowed to walk free and continue with his evil agenda.”
Some political analysts in India also seem to be agitated by Saeed’s release and say it will only further complicate the already strained relations between the two rival nations.


“His release only reinforces the popular belief in India that the Pakistani establishment is either not interested or it’s incapable of putting Saeed on trial in the Mumbai case,” Vinod Sharma, Delhi based political editor of the Hindustan Times told VOA. “In either case it increases the trust deficit between the two countries."





Insufficient evidence, says Pakistan


Lawmakers in Pakistan dismiss the allegations and maintain India and the U.S. provided insufficient evidence to put Hafiz Saeed behind bars or declare him a terrorist.


“The criticism by the United States is wrong and India’s anger makes no sense as Pakistan is a democratic country where courts are powerful and work with full authority,” Abdul Qayyum, a prominent member of the ruling party PML-N told VOA. “Until and unless there is solid evidence against Hafiz Saeed, how can you arrest or punish him? We have strict rules for terrorists and we do not spare them at any cost,” Qayyum added.


Some experts on South Asian affairs point out that Hafiz Saeed’s release orders came out within days after the U.S. Congress removed a provision from the National Defense Authorization Act 2018 that delinks Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) from the Haqqani Network to reimburse Pakistan for its cooperation in the war on terror.

Ashley Tellis, a senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington called the amendment an “unfortunate move." "It will give Pakistan a way to differentiate between good and bad terrorists and they will make less effort to satisfy the United States against the war on terror,” Tellis told VOA.

https://www.voanews.com/a/analyst-on...d/4137508.html

It was 9 years ago since the Mumbai terror attack, I remember watching " I'm a Celebrity get me out of here " and thinking that the contestants didn't know what was happening outside the studio.

Yep, same planet, different world.

When this happened, I was on my way to Nagaland. The yellowshits had the airport shut down and my friend and I were stuck in Bangkok. Ended up going to Koh Chang instead. Never made it to Nagaland.