New Delhi:
What David Headley disclosed during his interrogation on 26/11 should have stayed private -that's reportedly the opinion of the US Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), after a series of comments made by senior Indian bureaucrats and the Foreign Minister.
Headley, a Pakistani-American, was arrested by the FBI in September, 2009, and has since pleaded guilty to planning terror attacks, including 26/11 which saw ten Pakistani terrorists ravaging Mumbai for 72 hours. 166 people were killed. Indian interrogators from the National Investigating Agency (NIA) met Headley recently in America.
Home Secretary GK Pillai disclosed last week that Headley had confirmed that Pakistan's ISI was involved with 26/11 "from beginning to end." That comment, on the eve of talks between India and Pakistan, provoked a strong reaction with Pakistani Foreign Minister SM Qureshi saying it "was uncalled for."
India, however, defend Pillai and his statement. On Tuesday, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, suggested that Headley's allegations against Pakistan cannot be kept secret.
(Indo-Pak talks: After 6-hour-long meeting, differences in public)"Whether we like it or not, it has come into the public domain, it is open now and Headley's revelations cannot be hushed under the carpet now. I think whatever Headley has said to the FBI has to be taken serious note of by all those who are involved and then that concern of India has to be addressed," Krishna said.
(Krishna on Pillai: Pak wrong to make Hafiz Saeed comparison)American officials have reportedly expressed the concern that public discussions on Headley could adversely affect the case against him in the United States.
Sources tell NDTV that Headley has revealed that the ISI paid 25 lakhs for the boat used by the terrorists to sail from Karachi to Mumbai to launch the biggest terror strike India has dealt with. Headley has also allegedly stated that he visited a series of training camps for terrorists in Pakistan, and that some of these were managed by the ISI.
(Read: ISI men gave 25 lakhs to buy boat for Kasab, others: Headley)|
(Watch: What David Headley said on the ISI) On Tuesday, India's National Security Advisor stated, "For us, it's been brought home most recently by what we learnt from Headley which confirms many of the things which we knew before. And it's really the links between the official establishment and with existing intelligence agencies, it's that nexus, which makes it a much harder phenomenon for us to deal with. Unfortunately what we know and what we see suggests that these links or this nexus, in fact, will not be broken soon. If anything, it is getting stronger," Menon said.
(Watch |
Read: Full text of speech)