Indian team quizzed Headley for 7 days

WASHINGTON - A team of Indian investigators was allowed to question Pakistani American Lashkar-e-Taiba operative David Headley, who has confessed to his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack, for seven days, US and Indian officials have confirmed.

The four-member team from India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) was “provided direct access to interview Headley”, who “answered the Indian investigators’ questions over the course of seven days of interviews,” the US Justice Department said in a statement Thursday. “There were no restrictions on the questions posed by Indian investigators.”

But “to protect the confidentiality of the investigations being conducted by both India and the United States, both countries have agreed not to disclose the contents of the interviews,” it said.

Confirming that the NIA had questioned Headley “over several days,” Indian ambassador to US, Meera Shankar said the team is now returning to India on the conclusion of a “useful visit.” She too provided no further details.

In a separate statement, US ambassador to India Timothy Roemer said Indian investigators who arrived in the US on May 31 had been granted direct access to David Headley, and had conducted a series of interviews with him starting June 3.

“As I have mentioned previously, the US Government worked continuously at the highest levels to ensure that this access occurred and was constructive in advancing our already unprecedented cooperation and information sharing on counter-terrorism issues,” he said.

– Indo-Asian News Service