London: Union Home Minister P Chidambaram
told FBI Director Robert Mueller early this year that he
suspected David Headley, who is involved in Mumbai terror
attack, had not acted alone, according to a secret US embassy
cable made public by Wikileaks.
At a 20-minute meeting with Mueller on February 23
during his visit to New Delhi, Chidambaram also insisted that
direct access be given to Headley, even if such access
produces no information, and also access to the Pakistani-
-American`s spouse who was in Chicago, according to the
February 26 cable sent by US Ambassador Timothy Roemer.
In New Delhi, Union Home Ministry sources discounted the
possibility of Chidambaram having pleaded and said he may have
just raised the issue of providing access to Headley for
Indian investigators. The sources also noted that the veracity
of the cable needed to be checked.
Mueller said Headley--who has links with the
Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba(LeT)-- was giving
the US "the best information for months" on Pakistan-based
terrorist groups.
Chidambaram said he had "a feeling in my bones that
Headley was not acting here(in India) alone," but conceded
that he had no evidence to support his supposition that
Headley formed sleeper cells in India, one of which may have
been involved in the February 13 Pune bombing.
The Minister complained that Pakistan had "done damn
near nothing" to prosecute Mumbai terror suspects, and Mueller
said he would press the Pakistanis to take action during an
upcoming visit to Islamabad, the cable said.
Chidambaram asked whether a Government of India official
could monitor Headley`s interrogation and submit questions "in
real time," it said.
Mueller assented to Chidambaram`s request for expedited
FBI lab assistance regarding forensic cyber and voice
recognition analysis.
Characterizing the information produced by interrogation
of Headley as among the most important intelligence the US
Government has gleaned in the past six to eight months,
Mueller assured Chidambaram that US would continue to pass
such information in a timely manner to India.
Noting that the process of Headley`s proffer of evidence
is nearing a critical stage, Mueller observed that Headley has
expressed hatred toward India and may "clam up" if his guilty
plea is tied in any way to cooperation with the Government of
India.
-PTI
