New Delhi
19 April 2010
The US Government is according the "highest priority" to giving India access to
David Coleman Headley, the Pakistani-American who has confessed to plotting the
Mumbai attacks.
"We want to ensure that justice is delivered to the attackers. Nobody understands the
importance of Headley as I do and the US. This (providing access) is the highest
priority," US Ambassador to India Timothy Roemer told journalists here on Monday.
The envoy refused to comment on the possibility of the extradition of Headley to India.
All he would say is that whether Headley will be extradited or not is hypothetical
because India has not requested his extradition yet.
Currently, the US is providing "indirect" access to Headley by sharing with India the
information gathered from him and putting forth the questions by Indian officials for the
purposes of averting any possible terror attack in future on both India and his country.
Mr Roemer cautioned that legal complications could lead to procedural delays. Giving
direct access is "a very difficult thing to do" but the fact that the US is keen to work with
India to share intelligence and prevent future attacks is an improvement from the past
when such cooperation was unthinkable, he noted.
"Five-six years back, these kind of offers were off the table," he recalled.
The envoy sought to pre-empt criticism in India by saying that even the 9/11
Commission set up by the US, of which he was a member, had asked for access to 9/11
plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed but the US Government of the day refused, citing
executive privilege and intelligence concerns.
Mr Roemer said he has been speaking to the US attorney-general, the FBI, the White
House and counter-terrorism experts to resolve the issue of access to Headley and to
also make sure that the Indian and American interests are protected from future terrorist
attacks.
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