David Coleman Headley deposed before a Mumbai court for the second day today (File Photo)
Pakistan media reacted with caution as 26/11 conspirator David Headley began testifying about the attack at a Mumbai court yesterday.
Speaking from an undisclosed location in the US, where he is serving a 35-year jail term for his role in the attack, Headley spoke of the involvement and collaboration between Pakistan's military intelligence ISI and Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed, during the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people.
Pakistan media, including the leading daily Dawn, largely carried foreign wire copies. But most mentioned Headley as an "American", sidestepping his Pakistani origins and his identity as Dawood Gillani.
Without going into detailed analysis, most of the stories also presented bare facts of the case as mentioned by foreign wires. But even there, some of the details were omitted.
For example, most of print and television media skipped the details Headley gave regarding the ISI and Lashkar connection in the attacks.
It was also not mentioned that Headley had said that Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi had met him.
The Express Tribune quoted public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam speaking on Headley's revelation that he was working for the ISI and its nexus with Lashkar. The report then added, "Pakistan's government has technically banned LeT but a number of its leaders, including Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, remain free."
It further said, "India blames Saeed and Lakhvi for masterminding the attacks in 2008 and Pakistan's reluctance to hand them over remains a continual source of friction between the nuclear rivals."
Headley, accused as a conspirator in the case, was given a conditional pardon, under which he has to reveal all the details about the attacks and his own involvement in it.
Today, he had told the court that the ISI "provides financial, military and moral support to the Lashkar," strengthening India's allegations of support for terrorists from the Pakistani establishment.