CHICAGO, May 23 (UPI) -- A Pakistani-American who admitted his involvement in the deadly Mumbai terror attack testified in Chicago Monday he told Tahawwur Rana he had trained for jihad.
The testimony followed opening statements in Rana's federal court trial on charges he helped provide cover for his friend as the details of the 2008 attack, in which about 170 people were killed in India, were planned.
David Coleman Headley was the prosecution's first witness. He pleaded guilty to plotting the Mumbai terror attack and planning a foiled attack at a Danish newspaper.
Headley testified he shared with Rana information about his training with Lashkar-e-Toiba, the Chicago Tribune reported.
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"One second spent conducting jihad was superior to 100 years of worship, praying," Headley testified. He said when he told Rana about the training, he was surprised.
Rana's attorney Charlie Swift said in opening statements Headley is a "master manipulator" who made a fool out of Rana.
Rana, 50, a Pakistani-Canadian who owned First World Immigration Services in Chicago and other cities, is charged with giving material support to Pakistan's Lashkar-e-Toiba, the terrorist group that held Mumbai hostage for three days in November 2008 and killed 164 people, including six Americans.
Headley used a Global Positioning System program to guide the gunmen as they moved on their targets, including luxury hotels, the main train station, restaurants and a Jewish center.
Rana's indictment states he let Headley set up a First World Immigration office in Mumbai as a cover for the plot.
A superseding indictment in April revealed the names of more suspects, including a shadowy figure known only as "Major Iqbal" who is believed to be in the Pakistani military or intelligence services.
U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber has released part of Headley's grand jury testimony in which Headley admits working for Pakistan's spy agency. Victims' families are suing Pakistan.
