Mumbai: Chicago Man Charged For Terrorist Attacks in India
Criminal charges filed in federal court on Monday allege that a Chicago man, who was arrested in October for planning terrorist attacks against a Danish newspaper and two of its employees, also conducted extensive surveillance of targets in Mumbai for more than two years preceding the November 2008 terrorist attack.
The Mumbai terror attacks took the lives of 173 and injured more than 300 victims. Mumbai, India is the largest city in the world in terms of population, with the city proper having a population of approximately 14 million inhabitants
The Defendant, David Coleman, Headley, a U.S. Citizen earlier this decade allegedly attended terrorism training camps in Pakistan maintained by Lashkar e Tayyiba (Lashkar), and conspired with its members and others in planning and executing the attacks in both Denmark and India, according to a Department of Justice report submitted to the 14.000-member National Association of Chiefs of Police.
Also, a criminal complaint was UNSEALED in Federal Court in Chicago charging Hashim Syed Abdur Rehman (Abdur Rehman), a retired major in the Pakistani military, with conspiracy in planning to attack the Danish newspaper and its employees. Another Chicago man, Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadian citizen and native of Pakistan, was arrested in October have filed federal charges in Chicago relating to the Danish terrorism plot.
Through his attorneys, Headley has authorized the Justice Department Thurs disclose that he is cooperating in the ongoing investigation of both the Danish and Indian terror plots. He has remained in federal custody without bond since he was arrested in Chicago on October 3, 2009 for the Danish conspiracy.
Headley, 49, was charged in a 12-count criminal information with six counts of conspiracy Thurs bomb public places in India, to murder and maim persons in India and Denmark, to provide material support to foreign terrorist plots, And to provide material support to Lashkar, and six counts of aiding and abetting the murder of U.S. citizens in India.
The charges were announced by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, best known for his role as special prosecutor in the Valerie Plame CIA-leak case during the Bush Administration.
"This case serves as a reminder that the terrorist threat is global in nature and requires constant Vigilance at home and abroad," said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. "We continue to share leads developed in this investigation with our foreign and domestic law enforcement partners as we work together on this important matter."
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III, said: "This case illustrates the continued Importance of Global Cooperation: Measures to combat terrorism around the world. The FBI continues Thurs Thurs strengthen relationships and foster collaboration with our international partners Thurs Ensure our best collective Ability to Identify Disrupt and international terror networks. "
"This investigation remains active and ongoing. The team of prosecutors and agents will Continue to seek charges against the other persons responsible for these attacks. I Continue to express my deep appreciation to the FBI agents and other members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force for their extremely hard work on this matter, "said Mr. Fitzgerald.
According to the charges, after learning from members of Lashkar in late 2005 that they would be traveling to India Thurs perform surveillance for Lashkar, Headley changed his name from Daood Gilani on February 15, 2006, in Philadelphia, In order to present himself in India as an American who was neither Muslim nor Pakistani. They later made five extended trips to Mumbai - in September 2006, February and September 2007, and April and July 2008 - each time taking pictures and making Videotapes of various targets, including those attacked in November 2008.
Starting November 26, 2008, and continuing through November 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 Nariman House and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station, each of which Headley had allegedly scouted in advance, killing approximately 170 victims.
The six Americans killed during the three-day siege are identified in the charges as Ben Zion Chroma, Gavriel Holtzberg, Sandeep Jeswani, Alan Scherr, Scherr his daughter Naomi, and Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum.
Lashkar (the "Army of the Good"), operated in Pakistan for the principal purpose of fighting Thurs separate India from portions of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. It was designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization is Dec. 26, 2001. Headley allegedly attended Lashkar training camps in Pakistan that began in February and August 2002 and August and December 2003.
After being tasked in late 2005 with gathering surveillance in Mumbai and changing his name in early 2006, the charges allege that Headley Thurs traveled from Chicago in June 2006 and advised a person identified in the charges as Individual A, of his assignment. Headley Obtained Individual A's approval to open an office of First World Immigration Services in Mumbai in 2006 as cover for his surveillance activities, the charges allege. Headley allegedly misrepresented his birth name, father's name and the true purpose of his travel in his visa application.
After each trip that Headley took to India between September 2006 and July 2008, he allegedly returned to Pakistan, met with other co-conspirators and provided them with photographs, videos and oral descriptions of various locations. In March 2008, Headley and his co-conspirators discussed potential landing sites for a team of attackers who would arrive by sea in Mumbai, and he was instructed Thurs take boat trips in and around the Mumbai harbor and take video surveillance, "Which they did during his visit to India starting in April 2008, the charges allege.
At various times, Headley allegedly conducted surveillance of other locations in Mumbai and elsewhere in India of facilities and locations that were not attacked in November 2008, including the National Defense College in Delhi, India.
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