CHICAGO — Authorities in Chicago are looking into
allegations two local men accused of plotting an assault on a Danish newspaper
that published controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad may be linked to
other plots, including a terrorist assault in Mumbai last year that left more
than 170 dead, sources said.
David Coleman Headley, who has been cooperating with
authorities, is being investigated as a scout for the Mumbai attack, which
targeted multiple sites, including two hotels, a train station, a cafe and a
Jewish community center. A source familiar with the probe said Headley’s
co-defendant in the newspaper case, Tahawwur Hussain Rana, is suspected to have
paid for Headley’s India missions.
Neither man has been charged in connection with the Mumbai
planning, though officials in India were outspoken last week about their
possible connection to the attacks. The militant Pakistani group
Lashkar-e-Taiba, linked to Rana and Headley in court documents here, has been
blamed for the Mumbai attacks.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago has declined to say
whether charges against the men here could be upgraded to account for their
suspected roles in the Mumbai operation. U.S. citizens lost their lives in the
coordinated attacks.
So far Headley, a Pakistani American, is charged with
conspiring to commit a terror act outside the U.S., and Rana, a Pakistani
native with Canadian citizenship, has been charged with providing material
support to terrorism. Those charges relate only to the plan in Denmark, where
Headley allegedly staked out the Copenhagen offices of the newspaper
Jyllands-Posten.
Prosecutors in Chicago also have said Rana discussed other
“targets” with Headley, including the National Defense College in
India.
Indian authorities have reported they are attempting to
retrace the steps of both men, indicating they believe both men could have been
in the country in 2007. The Chicago source said only Headley is believed to
have traveled to India, while Rana is believed to have been the financier.
Both men are to appear in court in Chicago next week, Rana
on December 2 and Headley on December 4. Both remain in custody.
Rana, 48, is the owner of a Chicago immigration business and
a Grundy County meat processing plant, and allegedly discussed ways to
fraudulently bring people into the U.S. with an associate of Lashkar-e-Taiba,
prosecutors have said.
Rana’s lawyer, Patrick Blegen, has denied the allegations on
his client’s behalf. Headley’s attorney, John Theis, declined to comment
Monday.
Via McClatchy-Tribune News Service.
