Chicago:
Pakistani-American David Headley, the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative arrested by FBI, pleaded not guilty on all the 12 counts against him in a Chicago court.
About six feet tall, white skinned with salt and pepper hair, he walked in to a crowed court room on Wednesday in leg shackles, and appeared calm and confident.
On first glance, Headley looked surprisingly Anglo Saxon with almost no trace of his Pakistani parentage.
"He is not guilty and we have to assume innocence until proven guilty," said Headley's lawyer Attorney John Theis.
US says Headley is cooperating with investigators - a strategy that has worked to his advantage before. In 1998, Headley was convicted of conspiring to smuggle heroin into the US from Pakistan.
According to reports, he served only 15 months after providing information to authorities. His co-defendant got 10 years.
When asked what are the chances that Indian authorities will get to interrogate Headley, his lawyer John Theis said: "That is some thing we will have to look at. I cannot assess the chances. If they make a request we will deal with it at that time."
So far, Indian authorities have not been allowed access to Headley or his co-conspirator Tawahar Rana. US officials have blamed bureaucratic and procedural hurdles for this delay.
Despite 26/11 being the core of the FBI chargesheet against Headley, and an extradition treaty in place between India and the US, the question now is does the fact that Headley is cooperating with US authorities hurt the chances of him ever standing trial in India.
About six feet tall, white skinned with salt and pepper hair, he walked in to a crowed court room on Wednesday in leg shackles, and appeared calm and confident.
On first glance, Headley looked surprisingly Anglo Saxon with almost no trace of his Pakistani parentage.
"He is not guilty and we have to assume innocence until proven guilty," said Headley's lawyer Attorney John Theis.
US says Headley is cooperating with investigators - a strategy that has worked to his advantage before. In 1998, Headley was convicted of conspiring to smuggle heroin into the US from Pakistan.
According to reports, he served only 15 months after providing information to authorities. His co-defendant got 10 years.
When asked what are the chances that Indian authorities will get to interrogate Headley, his lawyer John Theis said: "That is some thing we will have to look at. I cannot assess the chances. If they make a request we will deal with it at that time."
So far, Indian authorities have not been allowed access to Headley or his co-conspirator Tawahar Rana. US officials have blamed bureaucratic and procedural hurdles for this delay.
Despite 26/11 being the core of the FBI chargesheet against Headley, and an extradition treaty in place between India and the US, the question now is does the fact that Headley is cooperating with US authorities hurt the chances of him ever standing trial in India.
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