US rethink on India’s access to Headley?

Hardly two days after US Assistant Secretary of State Robert O Blake told reporters in New Delhi that there was every likelihood of Indian investigators being allowed to question David Coleman Headley, the US seemed to be backtracking on the assurance.

The United States envoy to India, Timothy J Roemer, said on Tuesday that no decision on providing India direct access to 26/11 accused Headley has been taken by America.

In a statement issued by the US embassy in New Delhi, Ambassador Timothy J Roemer clarified Robert Blake's comment in Delhi on Saturday. When Blake was asked by reporters if Indian investigators would be allowed to quiz Headley, he responded by saying, "My answer would be yes," .

"As the assistant secretary indicated, the US is committed to full information sharing in our counter-terror partnership. In fact, in this case we have provided substantial information to the government of India and we will continue to do so. However, no decision on direct access for India to David Headley has been made," Roemer said in a statement.

He added that the US department of justice will work with the Indian government "regarding the modalities of such cooperation".

Earlier, Home Minister, P Chidambaram had been upbeat over getting access to Headley, after a phone call with US attorney general Eric Holder.

"It is my understanding," Chidambaram said, "that India would be able to obtain access to Headley to question him in a properly constituted judicial proceeding. Such a judicial proceeding could be either pre-trial or during an inquiry or trial."

On Saturday, US attorney general and head of the department of Justice Eric Holder spoke to Chidambaram and explained the triple mode of access.

The three options provided to India are, firstly via letters rogatory, where the Indian government would request its US counterpart for judicial assistance, in the form of evidence or testimony collected during Headley’s interrogation, which can be used by the prosecution in the 26/11 trial in India.

Letters rogatory are customarily transmitted via the diplomatic channel, a time-consuming means of transmission. Secondly, the Indian government can have indirect access to Headley through video conferencing. Finally, the government has an option of sending Indian investigators to the United States to interrogate David Headley. Chidambaram has directed National Investigating Agency (NIA) to prepare the questions for him on US assurance.

Chidambaram had also said that Headley has admitted to conspiring with Lashkar-e-Taiba members and to attending their camps which should now "spur" Pakistan to take action against all the conspirators and bring them to justice.

Besides India, Pakistan and Denmark too are interested in questioning Headley who had confessed to his role in the Mumbai terror attacks. It may be recalled that India had given free access to the lone terrorist caught alive in the Mumbai attack, Ajmal Kasab, to FBI investigators. But it is obvious, the Headley case is different as he was actually an American agent who was allowed to infiltrate the terror network as well as the drug mafia in Pakistan, but somewhere midway, he had become a double agent and played into the hands of Lashkar-e- Teyaba. The US authorities would certainly not like Headley to spill the beans on his activities in Pakistan and India, much of which could have been known to his handlers in the US.

Hillary: US can consider n-cooperation with Pakistan

Notwithstanding India's reservations, the US on Tuesday said it would "consider" Pakistan's request for a civil nuclear deal as it wanted to help the country meet its immediate and long-term energy needs.

Ahead of the crucial bilateral strategic dialogue between the US and Pakistan on Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made it clear that the issue of energy would be one of the subjects of discussion but refused to pre-judge the outcome of the talks.

"I am sure that's going to be raised and we are going to be considering it but I can't pre-judge or pre-empt what the outcome of our discussions will be," Clinton said when asked whether Pakistan can have a civil nuclear deal with the US similar to the one Washington has with India.

"On the energy issues specifically there are more immediate steps that could be taken. We want to help Pakistan with an immediate and long term needs," Clinton told Pakistan's Express TV in an interview.

Ever since the US signed the nuclear deal with India, Pakistan has been repeatedly seeking similar cooperation. However, the previous Bush administration had refused to entertain the request arguing that the non-proliferation records of India and Pakistan were not comparable.

The first indications of US' willingness to discuss civil nuclear cooperation with Pakistan came two days back from US ambassador to Islamabad Anne Patterson who said that America's non-proliferation concerns were beginning to pass and nuclear cooperation is a scenario that can be explored. The US embassy in New Delhi, however no such n-deal with Islamabad was being contemplated.

India’s Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna on Monday had voiced unhappiness over such moves and asked the US to keep in mind Pakistan's track record of clandestine nuclear proliferation. New Delhi has underlined that the right balance has to be struck between meeting energy needs of a country and the track record of that state. India has pointed out to the clandestine proliferation network run by the father of Pakistan's nuclear programme A Q Khan which is believed to have provided nuclear technology and material to countries like North Korea and Syria.

- Asian Tribune -