Death in Mumbai, split in Chicago

A 12-member jury of a US district court has found Tahawwur Rana not guilty of providing cover to fellow Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative David Headley while the latter did recces for the bloody 60-hour attack on Mumbai in which 166 people were killed and over 300 injured
GUILTY ON 2 OUT OF 3
Tahawwur Rana, 50
Guilty of providing material support to the banned LeT and providing material support to a plot to bomb a Danish newspaper.Not guilty of conspiring to provide material support to the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai
Appeal: Defence must file by Aug 15
Sentence faced: 15 years for each of the guilty counts; the charges could run concurrently or separately
Sentencing date: Judge Harry Leinenweber said it will take months to arrive at a 'fair' sentence based on US federal guidelines, the evidence and legal arguments
FROM DOCTOR TO TERROR
Rana was born in Chichawatni in Pakistan's Punjab Province and was educated at Cadet College Hasan Abdal, a military residential college in Pakistan which Headley also attended. After getting a medical degree, he joined Pakistan's army medical corps and served in the Gulf War in Saudi Arabia, where he got injured. He recuperated in Germany and then declined a posting in Pakistan's glacier region, following which he was declared a deserter. Rana and his wife, Samraz, also a doctor, became Canadian citizens in 2001. Before his arrest in 2009, he had been living in Chicago running several businesses, including an immigration and travel agency. In 2006, he helped childhood friend Headley open a branch of this agency in Tardeo, Mumbai
PROSECUTION'S CASE
Rana knowingly set up the immigration agency at Tardeo so Headley had cover to do the 26/11 recces. He was a messenger between the ISI's Major Iqbal and Headley while Headley was doing surveillance in Mumbai. Rana wasn't surprised when the attacks started and later laughed about the carnage in Mumbai
DEFENCE'S CASE
Rana's attorneys said Headley was an untrustworthy witness who lied to the FBI, lied to a judge and lied to his own family. He connived with terrorists while being an agent for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, is a convicted heroin smuggler and concealed past mental health issues. They claimed Headley named Rana to save himself and his relatives. They said Rana is a pacifist who was 'duped' by Headley
GUILTY AS CHARGED
David Coleman Headley (aka Daood Gilani)
Count 1: Conspiracy to bomb places of public use in India
Count 2: Conspiracy to murder and maim persons in India
Counts 3 through 8: Aiding and abetting the murders of six US nationals in Mumbai
Count 9: Conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in India
Count 10: Conspiracy to murder and maim persons in Denmark
Count 11: Conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in Denmark
Count 12: Providing material support to LeT
Plea: Guilty on all counts
Sentencing: A deal with the prosecution means he avoids the death sentence and extradition to to India, Denmark or Pakistan
AGENT OF DEATH
Headley, an American citizen, is the Washington-born son of a former Pakistani diplomat and American woman. He speaks many languages. An arrested heroin smuggler, he later worked for the US Drug Enforcement Administration. He joined the LeT after calling a number he saw on a recruitment poster at a mosque in Pakistan. Later, the ISI trained him in Lahore after saying his LeT training wasn't up to the mark
CHARGED IN ABSENTIA
Major Iqbal
Helped plan and fund attacks carried out by LeT
Sajid Mir
LeT mastermind and handler of Headley and militants
Mazhar Iqbal
Lashkar commander
Abu Qahafa
Trained the attackers for LeT
Ilyas Kashmiri
Al-Qaida military operations chief in Pakistan
Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed (aka Pasha)
Retired Pakistani military man
Charges faced: First four face charges of conspiracy to murder and maim in India and aiding and abetting the murder of Americans in India. Mir, Abu Qahafa and Mazhar Iqbal conspired to bomb public places in India and provide material support to terrorism in India. Mir is also charged in the Denmark plot
Maximum sentence faced: Death for the first four
TALKING POINTS
THE CONTRADICTION | Rana's defence lawyer Patrick Blegan said the huge contradiction in the jury's verdict is that the LeT is primarily involved in Mumbai and not in Denmark
DENMARK SAVED | The plot on Copenhagen was aborted because of the intense pressure after the Mumbai attacks and due to a lack of funds, weapons and manpower
STRAIGHT FACE & TEARS | Rana showed no reaction when the jury's verdict was read by the judge, but his wife Samraz covered her face as she cried in court
SMOKING GUN?
how's the dr's reaction on what all is happening, is he terrified or relaxed
-- Email to Headley from co-conspirator, sent a month after Mumbai attacks. Rana was a doctor in the Pak army
WHAT SAVED RANA
Rana's attorneys noted that he travelled to India with his wife weeks before the 26/11 assault. They also produced ads taken out in Mumbai newspapers, which said Rana, an immigration expert, would be in the city on Nov 20, 2008. That was six days before the attacks
They also questioned Headley's interpretation of Rana in recordings