Access to Headley: Solicitor General off to US

With the United States promising to give India access to 26/11 accused David Headley, Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam on Saturday left for Washington to discuss legal modalities for it.

Subramaniam's five-day visit is primarily to understand the US legal system within which India could get access to Headley, a Pakistani-American national who has confessed to his involvement in the Mumbai attacks, sources said.

He will discuss with officials of the US Justice Department modalities for access to Headley, a Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative, in an appropriate legal format.

The sources pointed out that the legal system in the US was different than that of India and hence there was need to understand it properly and move ahead accordingly.

India wants to question Headley in a manner that his statement would be acceptable in a court of law in India. In this regard, a chargesheet would also be required to be filed against Headley in India.

Significantly, Subramaniam is travelling to the US soon after Prime Minister Mannohan Singh's visit there last week during which he raised the Headley issue with US President Barack Obama.

The issue was also discussed when National Security Adviser Shvishankar Menon met his US counterpart James Jones subsequently. Sources later said India has got 'very high-level' assurances from the US government that it will get access to the Pakistani-American terrorist.

Headley, who was arrested in October last, has entered into a plea bargain with the US government wherein he has offered to be available to foreign investigators through deposition, video conferencing or letters rogatory.

Subramaniam had earlier advised the government to settle for nothing less than Headley's extradition to ensure his thorough custodial interrogation. Headley has told his America interrogators that he had several times conducted recce for the Mumbai attacks. He has also revealed that a serving Pakistani Army Major had given training to him in Pakistan.

India wants access to unravel the entire conspiracy regarding the Mumbai attacks and plans for further attacks by the LeT.