Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana is set to stand trial in Chicago over his alleged role in the 2008 Mumbai attack amid rumors that federal prosecutors may attempt to tie the incident to the Pakistani government.
The court case against the 50-year-old Chicago businessman is believed to implicate Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the terrorist attack and yet another crack on the wall of trust between the two allies in the US-declared “war on terror,” according to the Canadian daily Ottawa Citizen.
Rana is accused of helping his childhood friend David Coleman Headley to scout targets for the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for the Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, including six Americans.
Headley, a Pakistani-American, is the key US government witness that pleaded guilty last year to laying the groundwork for the Mumbai attack by LeT.
Headley, however, has decided to avoid a possible death sentence by agreeing to cooperate with US officials and testify against Rana. He told interrogators that the ISI provided training and funds for the attack against arch-rival India.
The trial is set to pit Rana against Headley, who is expected to say that Rana contributed to his plot by allowing him to use his Chicago-based First World Immigration Service, with offices in Toronto and New York, to cover up his terrorist activities.
Moreover, Headley is expected to testify that ISI was directly involved in planning the attack, provided training and funds to the terrorist group LeT and that an ISI officer gave him USD 25,000 to begin surveillance for the attacks.
Headley has also claimed that he told Rana he "had been asked to perform espionage work for the ISI," according to a court filing.
The move comes in the wake of recent alleged killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by American forces in a compound near Islamabad.
US officials accuse Pakistani intelligence officials of harboring bin Laden, claiming ISI was aware of his whereabouts.
Meanwhile, a total of 100 jurors filled out a questionnaire and will be questioned by US District Court Judge Harry Leinenweber Tuesday in what is being boasted as the most important terrorism trial ever to be held here.
After the jury selection is finalized this week, the opening arguments of the case will be presented by both sides.
"There is only one verdict the jury will reveal - not guilty," Rana's attorney Charlie Swift said.
Swift said that since 80 percent of Americans distrust Islam, Rana needed fair jurors.
He added that the jury needed people who are ethnically and racially diverse and who could put aside their prejudice and biases. Press TV
