26/11 after 2 failed attempts: Headley

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, February 8

Pakistan-based outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba carried out the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai after two failed attempts, David Coleman Headley, former LeT operative presently in the custody of US authorities, told a special court here via video conference this morning. He also gave details of the role played by Pakistan’s espionage agency ISI.

“Headley has confirmed that the Lashkar-e-Toiba made two attempts before carrying out the 26/11 terror attacks. Headley has also confirmed that he joined the LeT on the influence of its leader Hafiz Saeed,” Headley’s lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani told mediapersons here.

Headley said the first attempt made in September 2008 failed since the boat carrying the terrorists sank after hitting some rocks. Though the terrorists survived, the weapons and explosives they carried were lost. The same group made another attempt in October that year but had to abort the mission. The group finally landed on the Mumbai shores on November 26 and carried out the deadly attacks. Headley confirmed the LeT was linked to the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence). He told the court that Major Iqbal from the ISI was in regular touch with him regarding espionage work in India.

Headley, who is serving a 35-year sentence in a US jail, has turned approver in return of pardon for his role in the terror attacks.

Headley’s testimony began at 7 am in the special court at the Arthur Road Jail. The Pakistan-American of mixed parentage told the court he came to India seven times before the November 26, 2008 terror attacks and once after that. Headley added Sajid Mir was his main contact in LeT.

He changed his name from Daoud Syed Gilani to David Coleman Headley so that he could easily enter India as an American citizen under the guise of setting up a business.

“After I got a new passport, I disclosed it to my colleagues in LeT of which one of them was Sajid Mir, the person with whom I was dealing with. The objective for coming to India was to set up an office/business so that I could live in India. Before the first visit, Sajid Mir gave me instructions to make a general video of Mumbai,” Headley said in his submission.

While applying for the Indian visa, he cooked up a story that he was an immigration consultant and had furnished all wrong information to protect his cover. “I had discussed it (cover story) with Sajid Mir and Major Iqbal of ISI, and they were very happy to see my Indian visa,” Headley told the court. He said he knew Major Iqbal of the ISI and had met him in Lahore after Major Ali (also from the ISI) introduced him to the former. He said he had drawn maps and shot footage of several important targets such as the Taj and Oberoi Hotels and the Nariman House, which were hit by the terrorists in which 166 people lost their lives.

Replying to questions by prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, Headley said he was briefed and trained by Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed and LeT operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. He also identified Saeed, Sajid Mir and some other LeT members from photographs shown by the prosecution.

In his submission before the special court, Headley said as a true believer in LeT’s ideology, he wanted to fight the Indian Army in Kashmir but was persuaded by Lakhvi to work under cover in India taking advantage of his Caucasian appearance.

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam later told the media that Headley’s questioning would continue on Tuesday.