Tag: Tahawwur Hussein Rana

Clearly, the jury did not take David Headley's cooperating testimony at face value. The Government has helpfully put its trial exhibits online, so you can see the evidence the jury saw, including Rana's e-mails and some video clips of his uncounseled post-arrest statement. (Rana waived his right to an attorney.)

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The jury has reached a verdict in the Chicago Terror trial of Tahawwur Hussein Rana, accused of conspiring with former DEA informant David Coleman Headley, aka Daood Gilani and others in the Mumbai bombings, providing material support to a planned terror attack in Denmark and providing material support to terror group LeT. [More...]

Closing arguments are over, the jury has been instructed and will begin deliberating the fate of Tahawwur Rana, the Canadian businessman accused of conspiring with former DEA informant David Coleman Headley to provide material support to terrorists in connection with the Mumbai bombings and a planned attack in Denmark.

Rana is charged in three counts: Conspiracy to Provide Material Support to Terrorism in India; Conspiracy to Provide Material Support to Terrorism in Denmark; and Providing Material Support to Lashkar e Tayyiba.

In closings, the defense attacked David Headley, while the Government said Rana and Headley were on the same team. [More...]

Samraz Rana, the wife of Tahawwur Rana, on trial in Chicago for conspiring with David Headley and others in the Mumbai bombings and a planned attack on a Danish news agency, has given an exlcusive interview to Times of India.

In addition to discussing how David Coleman Headley duped her husband, she explains that Rana actually knew Major Iqbal from their early army officer days.

In a stunning revelation, Samraz Rana, speaking in a mix of English and Urdu, explained that Balajee was known to her husband in his early days in uniform as a medical corps doctor as a colleague in the Pakistani army, perhaps even before he became a Lashkar or an ISI operative.

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Did the Government participate in David Headley's lie to the court about his past mental health issues when he pleaded guilty? A bevvy on news articles on the Tahawwur Rana terror trial in Chicago today say Headley lied to the Government and the Judge about his past mental health troubles. But did the Government really not know about them? The Wall St. Journal recaps Headley's cross-examination today by Tahawwur Rana's attorney:

When Mr. Headley told the court earlier that he had never been treated for a mental disorder, he failed to disclose that in 1992 he was diagnosed with a multiple-personality disorder and that he underwent 18 months of psychological treatment around 1997. Confronted with his medical record, Mr. Headley said softly, "I don't recall it." When Mr. Blegen asked him if he would like to see the paperwork, he said, "I will accept it."

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The Chicago terror trial of Canadian businessman Tahawwur Hussein Rana, charged with conspiracy in the Mumbai bombings and a planned attack on a Danish news agency, continues today in Chicago. Former DEA informant Daood Gilani, aka David Coleman Headley, is still on the witness stand, undergoing cross-examination by Rana's attorneys.

Many are hoping today's testimony will reveal more on the nexus between al-Qaeda, ISI and LeT. There are still no answers on the identity of alleged Pakistani ISI officer Major Iqbal or Major Sameer Ali, both of whom are indicted in the case.

Some new articles on David Headley's credibility issues: Economic Times, and from Pro Publica, How Do We Know [Headley] Is Telling the Truth?

Unfortunately, Globe and Mail reporter Colin Freeze is back in Toronto and not live-tweeting today. Updates may be available by others at #Rana Trial. All of our coverage of the case is available here.

The Chicago terror trial of Tahawwur Hussein Rana continued today with more testimony from former DEA informant and admitted Mumbai attack planner David Coleman Headley, aka Daood Gilani.

The Court ordered the Government's Santiago proffer unsealed today, on motion of the Chicago Tribune. Here it is skip to page 18 where the facts begin.

Via Colin Freeze, Globe and Mail reporter who's live-tweeting the trial, Headley testified he worked for the DEA for two years after becoming involved with LeT. The DEA first sent him to Pakistan in 1999. (They sent him again in December, 2001.) He said he stopped working for the DEA in 2002. He also attended his first LeT training camp in Feb. 2002. Here's a timeline, and here are the docket entries from his last heroin case. (It wasn't his first bust or the first time he worked his way down to a low sentence by cooperating with the DEA.) [More...]

Pakistan has issued a statement following David Coleman Headley's testimony Monday in the Chicago trial of Tahawwur Hussein Rana, saying his statements that Pakistan's ISI supported the Mumbai bombings is not credible:

"This is a completely incorrect statement from him (David Coleman Headley). ISI & serving officers did not provide support to David Headley, and ISI had nothing to do with the Mumbai attacks. David Headley was a double agent. He is not a credible witness."

Will the real Major Iqbal please stand up? No one seems to have identified him yet. He used the e-mail address chaudherykhan-at-yahoo.com. Who gave Headley the opportunity to be a double agent? The DEA. Who else is playing both sides? Pakistan. There's plenty of dirt to go around.

Globe and Mail reporter Colin Freeze is doing a great job of live-tweeting the trial. All of our coverage since the 2009 arrest of Headley is accessible here.

Opening arguments were held this morning in the Chicago terror trial of Tahawwur Hussein Rana, charged with conspiracy in the Mumbai bombings and a planned attack on a Danish news agency.

“The defendant didn’t carry a gun or throw a grenade. In a complicated and sophisticated plot, not every player carries a weapon. People like the defendant who provides support are just as critical to the success,” [AUSA] Streicker said.

Streiker said Rana "not only knew of the attacks, he approved of them, and agreed with them." The defense said David Headley is a master manipulator who made a fool of Doctor Rana.

David Headley, aka Daood Gilani, is the Government's first witness.[More...]

Opening arguments begin tomorrow in the trial of Tahawwur Rana, alleged to have conspired with David Headley, aka Daood Gilani and others in the Mumbai bombings and a planned attack on a Danish news agency. Michael Isikoff has this summary today.

I've been writing about Headley and Rana in depth since Headley's arrest. All of our coverage is available here.

The Government will attempt mightily to keep Pakistan's ISI out of the trial. The Judge has already rejected Rana's planned defense that he thought he was working for the ISI rather than Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT.)

The main question is who was Headley's handler, referred to as Major Iqbal, allegedly a serving Pakistani ISI officer? And how, despite his being a named defendant in the Chicago case, and the subject of an Indian charge sheet and Interpol Red Notice, can no one know his identity? [More..]

An anonymous jury has been selected in the Chicago terror trial of Tahawwur Hussein Rana, charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in the Mumbai bombings and a planned attack on a Denmark news agency.

The jury is composed of 8 women and 4 men, most of whom are minorities. The six alternates include 4 men and 2 women.

Opening arguments begin Monday. The Government will be relying on the testimony of admitted co-plotter and former DEA informant David Coleman Headley, aka Daood Gilani. Both Headley and Rana have said current members of Pakistan's intelligence agency and former military officers were working in concert with the terrorists. All of our prior coverage is available here.

I wonder if the Government will be successful in keeping all references to the ISI and military out of the trial, or if we'll finally find out who Major Iqbal is.