Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative David Coleman Headley, accused of plotting the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and conspiring to target a Danish newspaper, pleaded guilty on Thursday before a United States court.
Headley, 49, who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's joint terrorism task force on October 3, 2009, told US District Judge Harry Leinenweber that he wanted to change his plea to guilty, in an apparent bid to get a lighter sentence and escape the death penalty.
Headley has reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, which ruled out the death penalty and extradition to India, Pakistan and Denmark, provided that he cooperates with the government's investigations into terrorism.