Trial opens for Pakistan-born businessman

CHICAGO, May 16 (UPI) -- Taking a Pakistan-born businessman to trial in Chicago for alleged ties to the Mumbai terror carnage shows the United States' resolve, an ex-prosecutor says.

The U.S. District Court trial of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, which is to start Monday with jury selection, comes in the wake of the May 2 killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad that has already raised questions about how the Pakistani government or its military could have been unaware of his presence for years so close to Islamabad.

The Nov. 26, 2008, terror attacks in India's financial capital of Mumbai left about 170 people dead, including six Americans, and India says they were masterminded by the Lashkar-e-Toiba terror group based in Pakistan.

The Wall Street Journal quoted prosecutors that Rana helped his Pakistani-American friend David Coleman Headley scout Mumbai prior to the attacks. Rana and Headley also are accused in a plot to bomb a Danish newspaper.

The Journal report said Headley, who pleaded guilty to his role in the Mumbai attacks, will testify against Rana in return for escaping the death penalty.

A former federal prosecutor told the Chicago Tribune the Rana case could bring to light the local connection to a major international plot.

"The U.S. dedicated a lot of resources [to the Rana case] even though prosecutors don't allege that the U.S. was specifically a target," said John Kocoras. "It shows U.S. commitment to stomping out terrorist activity."

The report said Rana, who operated an immigration business in Chicago, is accused of allowing Headley to use the firm as cover to travel overseas while developing the Mumbai and Denmark plots. The two became friends when they attended a military school in Pakistan.

Rana has denied all involvement. Six more people facing similar charges remain at large.

Security was tightened at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse ahead of the trial, the newspaper said.

Commenting on what Headley might reveal at the Rana trial, terrorism expert and former U.S. Central Intelligence Officer Bruce Riedel told The New York Times it could be "the next nail in the coffin of U.S.-Pakistan relations."

The Times report, quoting an American official, also said there is no agreement within the U.S. government about Pakistani intelligence agents' involvement with Headley. However, it said some in the government say the fact prosecutors will call Headley as a witness indicates he might be telling the truth.

The Journal quoted a spokesman for the Pakistan Embassy in Washington as saying, "There is no involvement, or complicity, by any state institution, or any Pakistani security official."