The Centre on Thursday reiterated its demand for being granted access to Tahawwur Hussain Rana, associate of Pakistani-American LeT militant and key 26/11 conspirator David Coleman Headley, and said its demand for the extradition of both the convicted terrorists continued to “stand”.
Earlier this month, Headley was convicted for 35 years for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, which had led to much heartburn in India. ew Delhi had repeatedly sought the extradition of Headley, who was earlier known as Daood Gilani. But his plea bargain with the US prosecutors ruled out extradition to India, Pakistan or Denmark.
Previously, Rana had been given 14 years, followed by five years of supervised release for providing material support to the LeT and for backing the plot to attack a Danish daily for publishing the cartoons of Prophet Mohammed.
“We have always held that bringing to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks is a work in progress, which we intend to take to its logical conclusion,” Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said here on Wednesday.
He was replying to a media query on outgoing US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent statement that Headley had got the best possible sentence, thereby ruling out the possibility of extradition.