The question of providing Indian authorities with access to terror suspect David Coleman Headley is now “down to logistics,” a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation said today.
Speaking to The Hindu, Special Agent Ross Rice of the Chicago FBI said, “As per his plea agreement Mr. Headley has agreed to cooperate with U.S. and other authorities. If he does not do so, it will be a violation of his plea agreement and his case will then go back to the courts for further review.”
Mr. Rice suggested that the plea agreement worked both ways: “The plea agreement requires Mr. Headley to do certain things, including cooperate with the authorities. It also requires U.S. authorities to do certain things.” He implied that Mr. Headley would need to continue sharing information if he wished to see the U.S. government hold up its end of the bargain.
Mr. Rice confirmed that discussions for providing Indian authorities with access to Mr. Headley were underway and U.S. authorities were hopeful that this would happen in due course. He added, “It is simply down to deciding when, and where, who from the Indian side would be present, whether it would be with Mr. Headley’s attorneys present, whether U.S. authorities would be present and so forth.”
When the logistics for any interviews with Mr. Headley were finalised it would not be announced to the public in any case, due to security concerns, Mr. Rice said.
