British Intelligence Helps US make Mumbai Terrorist Arrest
According to the Daily Telegraph, a tip from British authorities led the U.S. to David Coleman Headley, a suspect in the Mumbai bombings. Also called Daood Sayed Gilani, Headley frequently visited Bollywood sets in the Indian city which he used to mask his illicit activities.
According to documents, he checked-in at the Taj Mahal hotel, one of his April and May 2007 targets, and even had a gym membership at the local fitness centre in Breach Candy, an upmarket neighborhood. Headley has now been linked to freelance reconnaissance work for Lashkar-e-Taiba, among other terrorist organizations. Lashkar-e-Taiba is known to be behind the 2007 bombings last year which killed 173.
Sources have revealed that the British were vital in collecting information to expose Headley, who is a US citizen with residency in Chicago, as a key player in the operation. The information led the US to an arrest on Headley in October.
This is not the first time British intelligence has aided the Americans in the arrest of a potential terrorist act this year. In September, key evidence was provided by the British in regards to Najibullah Zazi, 24, who is suspected of plotting to attack a New York Subway.
Officials in India are still investigating Headley’s activities in order to put together a map of his actions during the most crucial times surrounding the bombings. During that time it is known that Headley operated a fake business posing as an immigration service.
During the exact time of the attacks, Headley was in Pakistan, supposedly working on an additional project called the “Mickey Mouse Project”. In other news, five Pakistani officers were arrested in connection with the “Mickey Mouse Project” activities this week.
Headley moved to America with his mother as a teenager, after his father, a Pakistani diplomat and she split. Headley has one prior conviction for heroine smuggling in the US. Although investigations are ongoing in India, Headley has already been charged in Chicago for numerous terrorist related activities.
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