Canadians terrorism trial will make waves overseas,Pakistani-Canadian involved !!

[canadian]

Back to The big deal: Canadians terrorism trial will make waves overseas The big deal: Canadians terrorism trial will make waves overseas

May 13, 2011
Sarah Barmak


The trial of a Canadian man in a Chicago federal courtroom on terrorism charges this week may not garner much media attention here. But it is already making headlines in the United States, India and Pakistan.
If the name Tahawwur Hussain Rana has been somewhat overlooked in the Canadian media, it could be that it has simply gotten lost amid stories about the demise of Osama bin Laden, Syrian protests, the Prime Ministers backpedalling on the deficit and the price of gasoline.
Yet the trial of the Pakistan-born defendant, who has Canadian citizenship, is intimately linked to some of those big headlines. The case could have a negative impact on U.S.-Pakistan relations, which have already been shaken by bin Ladens killing.
The trial could not come at a more delicate time. U.S. President Barack Obama is under pressure to cut aid to Pakistan over suspicions it knowingly harboured bin Laden for years.
Rana, who was arrested two years ago, is accused of helping militants in the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks in which 166 people were killed, including two Canadians, six Americans and many Indian nationals.
Ten targets in Indias capital of finance and tourism were hit, including luxury hotels, a Jewish community centre, a busy caf, a bustling train station and a hospital. Militants with rifles and grenades attacked the areas, firing indiscriminately at civilians.
The Rana case will dredge up memories of the massacres, but it may also draw attention to Pakistans links to terrorist organizations.
Rana, 50, is accused of helping a friend Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley who planned the attacks and found targets for militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba. Headley has already pled guilty to terrorism charges in the Mumbai attacks.
Prosecutors allege he allowed Headley to use his Chicago-based immigration business as a cover when Headley flew to India to do reconnaissance. They also accuse him of passing messages between Headley and a man thought to belong to Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI), known as Major Iqbal.
Rana doesnt dispute that Headley worked for him. But he says he was fooled by his employee, and wasnt aware of his deadly plans.
The case is sure to make waves in India, where people strongly suspect the ISI not only knew about the attacks, but trained the attackers. The courtroom will be full of Indian reporters.
I cant remember a case in terms of either its substance or timing that has such potential grave political impact, says Juan Zarate, a terrorism expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in a recent interview with NPR.
In a very real way, you have the Pakistani intelligence services, and perhaps the military, on trial here for its potential complicity in the 2008 attacks and thats in the wake of all the questions that have arisen about Pakistan complicity in harbouring bin Laden.
With all these tensions in one trial, its hard to imagine it being anything but a game-changer.

 

[Imranpak]

It doesn't change much in the overall state of things but could make things difficult for Pak-Canadians.

 

[Baba jee]

Pakistan spy agency key in Mumbai terror case against Pakistani Canadian

May 16, 2011
Sophia Tareen, The Toronto Star.com

CHICAGOA Chicago courtroom could become the unlikely venue for revealing alleged connections between the terrorist group blamed for the 2008 rampage that killed more than 160 people in Mumbai and Pakistan's main intelligence agency, which has come under increased scrutiny following Osama bin Laden's killing.

Jury selection begins Monday in the case against businessman Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian national who has lived in Chicago for years.

He is accused of helping a former boarding school friend serve as a scout for the militant group that carried out the three-day attack in India's largest city. Though the accusations against Rana are fairly straightforward, the implications of the trial could be enormous.

To make their case, federal prosecutors may lay out alleged ties between Lashkar-e-Taiba, the militant group blamed for the attacks, and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, known as ISI.

The trial comes amid growing suspicion that ISI was complicit in harbouring bin Laden, who was killed by Navy SEALs during a May 2 raid, and could lead to further strains in the already frayed relations between Pakistan and the United States.

The key government witness could be David Coleman Headley, a Pakistani-American with a troubled past who pleaded guilty last year to laying the groundwork for the Mumbai attack by Lashkar-e-Taiba. Headley, who is co-operating with U.S. officials, told interrogators that ISI provided training and funds for the attack against India, Pakistan's long nemesis.

Headley told authorities that Rana provided him with cover for a series of scouting missions he conducted in Mumbai. Headley also told interrogators that he was in contact with another militant, who has ties to Al Qaeda, as part of a separate plot to bomb a Danish newspaper whose cartoons had offended Muslims.

"What you'll have now in Chicago is a trial which will undoubtedly demonstrate links between Pakistan government agencies and one of the most competent terrorist organizations operating in South Asia Lashkar-e-Taiba," said Seth Jones, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corp. The trial "just adds more fuel to an already tense situation."

Nearly 100 jurors are expected at Chicago's federal courthouse Monday. They'll be asked to fill out forms with a range of questions, from personal views on Islam to knowledge of Pakistani militant groups. Jury selection is expected to last several days.

Experts say Lashkar-e-Taiba which means "Army of the Pure" was created with ISI's help in the 1980s as a proxy fighting force to battle with India over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

Counter-terrorism officials say the group has gained strength with the help of ISI since then, possibly with the help of retired officers. Pakistani officials have denied any ties with the group.

Lashkar-e-Taiba is accused of carrying out the three-day siege in Mumbai in which 10 gunmen attacked two luxury hotels, a Jewish centre and a busy train station in India's financial capital, killing 166 people, including six Americans.

Rana owns a Chicago-based First World Immigration Services, in the city's South Asian enclave. He and Headley met as teenagers at a Pakistani military boarding school outside Islamabad.

Prosecutors say Rana, who was arrested in 2009, provided cover for Headley by letting him open a First World office in Mumbai and travel as a supposed representative for the agency. He also allegedly helped Headley make travel arrangements as part of the plot against the Danish newspaper that in 2005 printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, which angered many Muslims worldwide.

Rana is charged with providing material support for terrorism in India and Denmark. In court documents, Rana's lawyers have said he believed Headley was working for Pakistani intelligence.

Headley also told authorities that he told Rana he "had been
asked to perform espionage work for the ISI," according to a court filing.

"Part of the defence will be that Headley used his connections with ISI to explain the things he was doing," Rana's lawyer Patrick Blegen told reporters last week. Rana "has maintained his innocence since the day he was arrested."

However, U.S. District Court Judge Harry Leinenweber ruled that that proposed defence was "objectively unreasonable."

Prosecutors have declined to comment ahead of the trial. A senior Pakistani intelligence official said he hasn't been following the trial and didn't have comment on it.

Some experts are skeptical about how much the trial will reveal. They say federal prosecutors may work hard to keep any sensitive information from surfacing in the courtroom, and Headley is not the most credible witness. Headley reached a plea deal with prosecutors in the terrorism case in exchange for avoiding the death penalty and previously had been an informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration after a drug conviction.
Details of Headley's possible testimony were revealed last year in an Indian government report detailing what he had allegedly told Indian investigators during questioning in Chicago.

In the report, Headley is cited describing how ISI was deeply involved in planning the Mumbai attacks and how he reported to a man known only as "Major Iqbal," whom he called his Lashkar "handler." But some experts have suggested Iqbal as a retired ISI officer. In the indictment his name is listed as unknown, and some have even doubted his existence.

Rana is actually the seventh name on the indictment, and the only defendant in custody. Among the six others charged in absentia is "Major Iqbal" and Sajid Mir, allegedly another Lashkar-e-Taiba supervisor who also "handled" Headley.

Also indicted is Ilyas Kashmiri, the commander of the terror group Harakat-ul Jihad Islami who also is believed by western intelligence to be Al Qaeda's operational chief in Pakistan. During his travels for spying and training, Headley allegedly met with Kashmiri in Pakistan, and Kashmiri gave him instructions on how to carry out the Danish newspaper bombing, which ultimately never occurred.




(I bet that Hussein Haqqani (Pak traitor in US) will be happy with this!)

 

[faqira786]

Re: Pakistan spy agency key in Mumbai terror case against Pakistani Canadian

Look like ISI is a Terrorist Organization. USA should do something for ISI as well.

Many pakistani killed bcoz of ISI in Pakistan/Kashmir/Afghan/India and other parts of the world

 

[enigma_1357]

Re: Pakistan spy agency key in Mumbai terror case against Pakistani Canadian

Faqira jee now u come to real point like ur boss Marass e AZAM ALTAF K*lia.

 

[student]

Re: Pakistan spy agency key in Mumbai terror case against Pakistani Canadian

excuse my frentch but I have to say, Did ISI also **** you?

Look like ISI is a Terrorist Organization. USA should do something for ISI as well.

Many pakistani killed bcoz of ISI in Pakistan/Kashmir/Afghan/India and other parts of the world