Daily Times:

US asks India not to make Headley’s disclosures public

NEW DELHI: The United States has expressed displeasure over the string of public statements made by Indian officials about what Mumbai attacks’ suspect David Headley supposedly told his Indian interrogators, including the alleged role of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the 26/11 attack.

Senior Indian officials, including Home Secretary GK Pillai and National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, have claimed over the past week that Headley, a Pakistani American, had revealed that the ISI had a direct role in the Mumbai attacks.

However, official sources said the US Justice Department has conveyed to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh government through diplomatic channels that the statements made by Headley should not be made public, as he had not been convicted by any US court yet. The US officials expressed concern that public discussions about Headley’s revelations could adversely affect his case in the US. The Indian government has been willingly leaking out the evidence against Headley over the past few weeks in an effort to step up pressure against Pakistan. “The Americans are especially annoyed with GK Pillai for making an affirmative statement last week that Headley had confirmed the involvement of Pakistan’s ISI in the 26/11 attacks from beginning to the end,” the sources said. iftikhar gilani