NEW YORK: The case filed against ISI by relatives of a Rabbi killed
in the 26/11 attacks, could be ’’disastrous’’ as the negative reaction
against it would undermine the US goals in the region, the lawyer
representing the Pakistani intelligence agency has said.
Kevin
Walsh, the lawyer, asked for the case to be thrown out warning of its
negative consequences and potential to fuel violence and extremism, The
New York Post reported. "The consequences of this judicial inquiry have
the potential to be disastrous," Walsh argued in a letter filed
yesterday with a federal judge.
"The intrusion of these actions
into the politics of Pakistan will fuel violence and extremism,
directed against the government the US intends to support," the
attorney argues.
Walsh argued that US courts do not have jurisdiction over government agencies in Pakistan, The Post reported.
Last
year, relatives of Rabbi Gavriel Noah Holtzberg, who was gunned down
along with his pregnant wife, Rivka, during the Mumbai attacks, sued
ISI and terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, in the Brooklyn Federal Court
for wrongful death.
The Rabbi and his wife, who originally were
from Brooklyn were killed when the attackers entered the Chabad
Lubavitch centre in November 2008.
While the unborn child was
killed, their two-year-old son was rescued by his Indian nanny in the
attack that killed 166 people.
The lawsuit claims that ISI has
worked closely with LeT and seeks damages. The claim is largely based
on the involvement of Pakistani American national David Headley in
conducting detailed surveillance of the attack targets for LeT. Headley
has pleaded guilty to plotting the attacks.
"The alliance with
Pakistan is an extremely sensitive, important and difficult
relationship for the United States," Walsh said in the letter. Online
