Now that Tahawwur Rana and David Headley have been pleaded guilty on terror charges, a top U.S. attorney has vowed to bring to justice the other six Pakistan-based defendants who have been named in the indictment filed by federal prosecutors before a Chicago court in Mumbai case.
The six defendants are al-Qaeda leader Illyas Kashmiri, LeT commander Sajid Mir; Major Iqbal, said to be a serving ISI officer and Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed aka Pasha, another LeT leader; all of whom are charged to be involved in the Mumbai terrorist attack, besides plotting a major terrorist attack in Denmark.
“We are hoping to see them brought to justice. We have to take that one step at a time,” U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald told reporters after a Chicago jury found Rana guilty on two counts that he was involved in plotting a terror attack in Denmark and provided material support to LeT.
Rana is the second defendant to be convicted among a total of eight co-defendants who have been indicted in this case since late 2009.
Co-defendant Headley, 50, pleaded guilty in March 2010 to all 12 counts against him, including aiding and abetting the murders of the six American victims.
Headley, who is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison, has cooperated with the government since he was arrested in October 2009, and testified as a government witness at Rana’s trial.
The six remaining defendants are all believed to be in Pakistan. It is understood that the US is seeking extradition of all the six accused in the Chicago case.
Recent reports from Pakistan said that Kashmiri has been killed in a U.S. drone attack, but the United States has not confirmed it.
“I am not in charge of drone attacks. I do not know what happened. We read news paper report. I am not there, I do not know whether there was drone, what happened with the drone, is he alive or dead I can’t say,” the US Attorney said.
