http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0611/chicago_terror_trial.php3
June 6, 2011 / 4 Sivan, 5771
One defendant, two main characters at terrorism trial in Chicago
By Annie Sweeney
In the court room as justice is meted out for the Muslim murderers of Mumbai
JewishWorldReview.com |
mHICAGO- (MCT) During a routine moment last week at a major terrorism trial,
prosecutors asked a witness to identify the defendant in court.
At the defense table, Tahawwur Rana - with a little smile - quickly raised
his hand and waved.
The surprising, enthusiastic self-identification from Rana, 50, drew laughs
from some jurors - and it also seemed a fitting moment because a man who is
not on trial has dominated the proceedings.
>From the start, Rana's trial has been more about his co-defendant and
childhood friend, David Coleman Headley, an admitted terrorist who, to avoid
the death penalty, has pleaded guilty to plotting the 2008 Mumbai attacks
that killed about 170, and to an abortive plot to storm a Danish newspaper
office and behead the staff.
Headley and Rana both lived in Chicago at the time of the conspiracies. Rana
has denied any involvement.
Rana, accused of the lesser charges of helping Headley, 50, in his plots,
listened as his former friend, the star witness, shared details and
accusations in clipped, precise answers about scouting in the tribal areas
of Pakistan, boat rides in Mumbai to find the best waterfront spot to land
an assault team and visiting a Copenhagen newspaper to figure out how to
storm the offices.
Rana's role also has been eclipsed by Headley's politically explosive
testimony that he was plotting with the secret intelligence arm of the
Pakistani government to attack India. His testimony came just weeks after
Osama bin Laden was hunted down by the U.S. government and killed in
Pakistan, raising questions about that country's commitment to working with
the U.S. against terrorism.
When the jury starts its deliberations - perhaps on Tuesday - the main focus
will finally be on Rana, as jurors sort through emails, transcripts and
recordings that prosecutors allege show that he allowed Headley to use his
Chicago-based immigration business as cover for scouting trips.
But they also will have to consider the testimony of Headley, who, in
addition to providing insights into an international terrorist assault, also
emerged as a person who has consistently looked out for his own interests
and who easily l ies.
Witnesses with shady backgrounds and character flaws are not unusual in
criminal trials. But here, the defendant's background is remarkably cleaner
than the cooperator's, highlighting the stark differences between the two
men at the heart of the case.
Rana and Headley met as boys at a Pakistani school, bonding immediately even
though they were quite different. At that time, Headley was known by his
birth name, Daood Gilani.
"The bad boy and the good boy," was how Rana's attorney Charlie Swift
characterized it during the trial, calling Rana a model student and Headley
a discipline problem with troubled family relationships.
The differences between the two would grow over the next few decades.
Rana joined the Pakistani military and became a doctor. He married a doctor
after their families introduced them, believing they were a good match. They
had three children, raising them in the West after Rana deserted the
military in search of a better life. Rana became a Canadian citizen but
moved to Chicago, where he opened several businesses.
Headley, an American citizen of Pakistani descent, returned to the U.S. at
age 17. Convicted of heroin smuggling in 1988 and 1997, he agreed to work as
an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Around 2000, Headley got involved with Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based
radical group that opposes Indian rule in divided Kashmir and attended
training camps on topics ranging from combat tactics to espionage, he
testified. He also revealed on the stand that there was an overlap between
his work for the DEA and his first days with Lashkar.
>From September 2006 to July 2008, Headley took five trips to Mumbai to
conduct surveillance for the plot. By now, Headley had legally changed his
name so that he could draw less suspicion while traveling.
After the Mumbai attacks, whose victims included six U.S. citizens, Headley
turned to the Denmark plot, which targeted the Jyllands-Posten newspaper
because it had published a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad. When members of
Lashkar backed off that plot, Headley secretly met with other terrorists,
including one with ties to al-Qaida.
Rana's defense elicited stories from Headley about how he has similarly
withheld information or even lied - including how he duped Rana about 25
years ago to help him smuggle heroin out of Pakistan. Headley said he never
told his friend about the heroin or that he was relying on Rana's military
identification card to reduce the chance he would be searched.
While Rana has been well aware of his friend's other misdeeds, he'd never
before heard of this betrayal, his attorneys said.
Headley has had multiple wives and has apparently indoctrinated his young
children with his love of military tactics. His 5-year-old son once dropped
to the ground in a Chicago park and pretended to fire a weapon after a
soccer coach yelled "shoot, shoot!" to him during a game, he testified to
under questioning from one of Rana's attorney.
The two friends have argued over religious differences. Rana disapproved of
Headley's multiple wives and wanted to keep that part of Headley's life from
his own wife.
When Headley arrived in Chicago he was embraced by Rana's family.
"He was extremely charming," said Rana's wife, Samraz Rana, in a recent
interview. "He was tall and handsome. He was very loving for my kids."
Eventually, Rana brought Headley into his business, allowing him to open the
Mumbai-based First World Immigration and act as representative of the office
in Denmark.
What happened next is in sharp dispute. Rana has denied any knowledge of
Headley's plotting, but Headley testified that he told Rana several times he
needed the cover of the business to scout the targets of attacks.
With Headley exposed as a career liar who uses people and relationships to
his advantage, the documents and secretly recorded conversations between
Rana and Headley could be key to the prosecution.
Among the documents is paperwork identifying Headley as a First World
representative, which Rana allegedly directed an employee of his business to
prepare so that Headley could open the Mumbai office. Rana also allegedly
helped Headley secure a visa to travel. On the application, Headley lied
about his birth name of Gilani.
In one secretly recorded conversation, Headley and Rana discuss the plots,
with Rana offering his assessment that the nine attackers killed in Mumbai
are deserving of high recognition.
"They should be given Nishan-e-Haider, . . . these nine, these kids," Rana
says, referring to a posthumous Pakistani military honor for gallantry.
Six other men - all with alleged ties to Pakistan terror groups - have been
indicted as well, although none is in custody.
In one email Rana allegedly sent to Headley, he uses the words "mov" and
"monie" and "yahoo" in a cryptically worded email. The FBI later found a
"mov.monie@yahoo"account that was traced to one of Rana's businesses. The
address was also used by Headley to store a list of locations in India,
including some in Mumbai.
The jury's understanding of some of the email evidence depends somewhat on
Headley's explanation. But evidence that Rana was involved in the
conversations on any level - or in creating coded emails at all - could
raise questions, a former Chicago federal prosecutor said.
"The evidence of a cover-up can often be as powerful as evidence of an
underlying crime," said John Kocoras, referring to conspiracy prosecutions
in general. "There would be no reason to communicate in code unless there
was something to conceal."
In another email, sent one month after the Mumbai attacks, a co-conspirator
emails Headley, asking "how's the dr's reaction on what all is happening, is
he terrified or relaxed ..."
Headley sent several emails to the plotters - and also Rana - about efforts
to infiltrate an Indian political organization. Headley forwarded a copy of
an email from another alleged conspirator to Rana, in which there is talk of
engaging the target and questions are raised about what "advantages" he
brings "except strengthening our cover."
The defense, meanwhile, worked to show that Rana was left out of much of the
plotting.
Headley also testified that while he used his code name for the Denmark
plot, Mickey Mouse Project, in various emails to co-conspirators, he never
used it with Rana. Nor did Rana congratulate him after Mumbai.
Defense attorneys also pointed out that Rana traveled to India in the weeks
before the attacks - without a specific warning from Headley to stay out of
the area.
They also repeatedly questioned the logic of Headley's decision to tell Rana
anything. Sharing details with someone who was not affiliated with Lashkar
would have violated the espionage techniques he learned, Headley testified.
Rana's attorneys also offered alternative reasons for why Rana was in
contact with Headley's cohorts. While questioning Headley, for example, they
asked him about other motivations Rana, who has juggled many businesses over
his life, might have had to gain access to their Indian targets.
Rana wanted to make a Bollywood movie, Headley confirmed.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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