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Mumbai terror suspect pleads guilty in US court

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] US citizen and Chicago resident David Headley pleaded guilty to 12 counts of federal terrorism Thursday, including charges related to the 2008 Mumbai terror attack and an alleged plot against the Danish creator and publishers of controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. The government had accused Headley of conducting surveillance in preparation for the Mumbai attack for the terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which is blamed for the attack. Headley was also charged with conspiring to bomb the headquarters of Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which published the cartoons. In January, Headly pleaded not guilty to the charges in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. It is thought he changed his plea to avoid extradition to India, Pakistan, or Denmark, or to avoid capital punishment. In January, an Indian court rejected a request by the lone surviving gunman from the Mumbai attacks for an international trial. Muhammad Ajmal Amir Kasab claimed he would not receive a fair trial in India. Kasab, whom India claims participated directly in the Mumbai attacks, said during his trial that he had met Headley while in jail after being arrested. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged three men along with Headley for their role in the Mumbai attacks and plot against the Danish Newspaper. Tahawwur Rana, a Chicago resident with Canadian citizenship, was charged with three counts of providing material support to terrorism, one each for his alleged roles in the Denmark plan and Mumbai attacks, and a third for alleged involvement with LeT. Retired Pakistani military officer Abdur Rehman and Ilyas Kashmiri, who is believed to have ties to al Qaeda, were also named in the indictment. Both face one count of conspiracy and one count of providing material support to terrorism for their alleged participation in the Danish newspaper plot. Rana is in federal custody and has pleaded not guilty, and Rehman and Kashmiri remain at-large.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on March 19, 2010 (boomark / email).