CHICAGO, March 17, (Agencies): The charismatic Chicago man accused of being a scout for the deadly 2008 Mumbai siege and a plot to kill a Danish cartoonist is set to plead guilty to terrorism charges, US court records showed Tuesday.
David Coleman Headley, 49, is accused of being a scout for two different Pakistan-based terrorist groups who used a friend’s immigration company as a cover for surveillance activities in India and Denmark.
The Washington-born son of a former Pakistani diplomat and American mother, Headley reportedly befriended Bollywood stars and even dated an actress during his lengthy surveillance trips to Mumbai.
Charging documents also indicated Headley was so eager to kill a Danish cartoonist who sparked outrage with cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed that he began working seriously on that plot two months before the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Headley, who has been cooperating with prosecutors since his October arrest, is set to appear in a Chicago federal court at 1830 GMT Thursday for a change of plea hearing, court documents showed.
It was not clear whether Headley would plead guilty to all or just some of the 12 charges laid against him in Chicago, some of which carried possible death penalty.
Headley’s attorney confirmed that a plea deal was in the works but declined to say to which charges his client would admit.
“I am really reluctant to go into the specifics of what he’s pleading to,” defense attorney John Theis told AFP.
“I expect that there will be a plea agreement,” he added. “And the details of that are what is (currently) being negotiated so I can’t comment on anything.”
Also:
VASCO: India on Wednesday said 42 militant training camps were operating in Pakistan and accused the country’s government of making little effort to close them.
The accusation came after the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan met last month for the first official talks since the 2008 attacks on Mumbai, which India blames on Pakistani militants.
“There are 42 terror camps in Pakistan (and) all the terrorist camps are active,” Defence Minister A.K. Antony said at a military function in Goa state.
“Pakistan has not taken serious steps to destroy these terror camps,” he said.
India blames the Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for the Mumbai attacks, which left 166 people dead and another 300 injured.
It also suspects Pakistan’s intelligence service, the ISI, of supporting anti-India militants.
The recent talks between the rival nations resulted only in a promise that both sides would stay in communication.
“As far as the dialogue is concerned, India will explore all possibilities but I don’t expect any miracles,” Antony said.