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.
