India likely to move US court to prove ISI as a terrorist group:
"Our main purpose is to help the family of the Rabbi to get justice as well as to prove in the New York court ISI's direct link with terror outfits like LeT which carried out the Mumbai attack," a government official said.
If the New York court is convinced about ISI's role in 26/11 attack, it will strengthen the case of declaring ISI as terrorist outfit by the US and the UN.
In the lawsuit, ISI chief Shuja Pasha and LeT are being sued for the Mumbai attack. It was filed by the close family members of Rabbi Holtzberg and Rivka, who were killed by the terrorists at the Chabad House in Mumbai during the 26/11 attack.
The disclosure of LeT operative David Headley in a Chicago court that he was in constant contact with ISI officials and he received espionage training from ISI is also likely to strengthen the lawsuit.
Headley's testimony in the trial of Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana in a Chicago court that the Pakistani spy agency and its operatives like Major Iqbal and LeT founder Hafiz Saeed had helped him in laying the groundwork for the Mumbai attacks has exposed Islamabad's role in 26/11, the government official said.
Through records of several emails exhibited in the court, federal prosecutors established beyond doubt that Headley was in constant contact with ISI officials, in particular Major Iqbal, and his handlers in Pakistan.
In one of the emails to his ISI handler Major Iqbal, Headley writes about the latest spying gadgets.
Headley told the court that Iqbal made key decisions and was indeed the mastermind of the 26/11 plot.
"Major Iqbal told me the Chabad House would be added on whatever list (of targets) there was because it was a front office for the Mossad" - Israel's intelligence agency, Headley said, adding that Major Iqbal "seemed upset the (Mumbai) airport was not included" as a target.
"If we become party to the law suit, all these will come as great help in proving our point that ISI is nothing but a global terrorist organisation," the official said
ISI trained me, says Headle
“ISI did provide me (espionage) training,” Headley told the court. The statements formed part of his testimony after pleading guilty.
The unsealed documents — known as Santiago Proffer — show Pakistan’s role in the attacks more clearly than previously known. ISI didn’t simply play host to the conspirators, it might have masterminded the operation.
While Headley’s deposition was expected to yield nothing new in terms of information about the planning of the attacks, it has brought out into the open what had only existed in confidential files.
Every word uttered by Headley over the last four days has come as an indictment and reiteration of Pakistan’s role as a global terror hub.
The ISI training to Headley was provided by Major Iqbal, in a two-storey safe house in Lahore near the airport, the Mumbai terror suspect told judges during the course of questioning by defence attorney Charles D Swift.
Headley told the court that when he met Major Iqbal in 2006, he expressed dissatisfaction at the military and espionage training that Headley had received from the Lashkar-e-Taiba and decided to give him instructions.
Headley was trained in various topics, including spotting and assessing people, recognising Indian military insignia and movements, dead drops and pick up points, and clandestine photography, the documents said.
Later, the ISI operative would instruct Headley on the targets to be surveyed on his subsequent visits. He took over the planning of Headley’s India cover completely, from financing it to deciding the logistics for it. The cover was to be a branch of the First World Immigration Services, a company owned by Rana.
ISI’s role in the attacks was suspected by India from day one. It was confirmed by Headley during seven days of his questioning here by officials of the National Investigation Agency of India in June 2010.
When questioned by Swift, Headley told the court that both the ISI and Major Iqbal trained him for espionage against India.
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