MUMBAI, Feb 8 - In the first case of deposition via video link from foreign land, Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley today told a court here about how Lashkar-e-Taiba had planned and executed the 26/11 attacks and the role played by ISI officials, involving him too.
Headley, a LeT operative who is currently serving 35-year prison sentence in the US for his role in the Mumbai attacks, detailed the sequence of events leading up to the November 26, 2008 assault as he deposed before Special Judge GA Sanap for nearly five-and-a-half-hours.
He spoke about his training by LeT in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Abbottabad near Islamabad under the guidance of LeT founder �Hafiz Saeed Sahab�, whose picture he identified in the court, as also its commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, and how he got in touch with three officers of Pakistan�s ISI � Major Ali and Major Iqbal and Major Abdul Rehman Pasha.
Headley told the court that he had changed his name from the original Dawood Gilani after instructions from the LeT commanders, including Lakhvi, and ISI officials to carry out recce in India for an attack, an �adventurous� task for him.
He also revealed that 10 terrorists, who struck at various places in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 killing 166 people, had planned to carry out the attack twice earlier � in September and October � but their attempts failed. Once their boat hit a rock in the seas, because of which they lost all the arms and ammunition and had to go back to Pakistan.
�I used to treat India as my enemy. Hafiz Saeed and LeT operative Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi also saw India as their enemy,� Headley told the Special Judge during his first deposition in an Indian court which began at 7 am.
He also admitted during his examination in chief by special prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam that he joined the ranks of LeT after getting �influenced and motivated� by the speeches of �Hafiz Saeed Sahab�.
Headley, who described himself as a �true follower of LeT, said he took his first �course� with them in 2002 at Muzaffarabad and had also attended a �leadership course� which was led by Saeed and Lakhvi.
He said he underwent 5-6 training courses in LeT camps for about two years. �Daura-e-sufa is a study course and is held in Muridke in Lahore while �Daura-e-aam� is a preliminary military training course held in Muzaffarabad in �Azad Kashmir� (PoK),� Headley said.
In �Daura-e-Khas, which is a more advanced training, he was taught to handle weapons, arms, explosives and ammunition, the LeT operative said.
He said he was also given �Daura-e-Ribat� training, an intelligence course in which setting up of safe houses and reconnaissance are taught. The centre where it is taught is in Mansera, 40 miles from Abbottabad, a place in Pakistan where former Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed by the US.
Headley said though he wanted go to Kashmir and fight Indian troops but he was told that he was �too old� for that. �Lakhvi told me that they would use me for some other purpose,� he said, adding it was to be more �adventurous� than Kashmir.
Talking about his travel to India, the LeT operative said, �Before the first visit, (his LeT handler) Sajid Mir (also an accused in the case) gave me instructions to make a general video of Mumbai.�
He said he visited Mumbai seven times before the 2008 terror attack and Delhi once after the attack in March 2009.
To enter India, he said he changed his name from Dawood Gilani to David Headley in 2006 so that he could travel here with an American identity and set up some business.
�I applied for change in name on February 5, 2006 in Philadelphia. I changed my name to David Headley to get a new passport under that name. I wanted a new passport so that I could enter India with an American identity.
�After I got a new passport, I disclosed it to my colleagues in LeT of which one of them was Sajid Mir, the person with whom I was dealing with. The objective for coming to India was to set up an office/business so that I can live in India,� he said.
Headley said he had applied for business multiple-entry visa with the Indian embassy so that he does not have to apply for Indian visa repeatedly.
�My office was established in Mumbai so that I could take cover in India,� Headley told the court, adding he wanted the cover so that his real identity would not be known.
He said while applying for the Indian visa, he cooked up a story that he was an immigration consultant and had furnished all wrong information to protect his cover.
�I had discussed it (cover story) with Sajid Mir and Major Iqbal of ISI, and they were very happy to see my Indian visa,� Headley told the court.
He said he knew Major Iqbal of ISI and had met him in Lahore after one Major Ali (also from ISI) introduced him to the former.
Nikam, who examined Headley and will do so again tomorrow, said, �I am absolutely satisfied with what Headley had revealed in today�s deposition. Headley has given certain sensational revelations during his deposition. He confirmed that he met Hafiz Saeed and he identified his picture as well.�
Headley�s lawyer�s Mahesh Jethmalani said he has confessed that he had joined LeT after being influenced by Hafiz Saeed. � PTI