Two men were indicted Thursday on chargesthey planned a violent attack on a Danish newspaper and helped lay thegroundwork for the November 2008 terrorist rampage killed 166 people in theIndian city of .
Businessman Tahawwur Rana and his associateDavid Coleman Headley already had been charged with assistance to terrorism butthe 12-count indictment expanded allegations against Rana to include the Mumbai attacks. Both are in federal custody in .
Retired Pakistani military officer AbdurRehman Hashim Syed and reputed terrorist leader Ilyas Kashmiri — described ashaving been in regular contact with al-Qaida's No. 3, Sheikh Mustafa Abual-Yazid — also were charged in the new indictment.
Abdur Rehman and Kashmiri are accused ofbeing involved with the plans to attack the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten,which in 2005 printed 12 cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad that sparkedoutrage in the Muslim world.
Officials say the defendants were linked tothe terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba, translated as Army of the Pure,which has long been involved in violent conflict with over the disputedterritory. The Indian government has blamed the group for the Mumbai attacks and the government has designated it asa foreign terrorist organization.
Headley, 49, formerly named Daood Gilani, isthe son of a Pakistani father and an American mother. He has authorized thegovernment to disclose that he is cooperating in the investigation, prosecutorssaid. His attorney, John Theis, declined to comment Thursday.
Rana, 49, is a Pakistan-born Canadiannational who has based his First World Immigration Service company and otherbusinesses in for more than a dozen years. A message seeking comment was leftfor his attorney, Patrick Blegen. Blegen has called Rana a legitimatebusinessman who was duped by Headley and denies the charges against him.
Kashmiri has been described as a leader ofthe terrorist group Harakat-ul Jihad Islami. The indictment marks the firstappearance in the case for al-Yazid, described as a leader of al-Qaida'sactivities in .
The indictment alleges Headley attendedterrorism training camps run by Lashkar in in 2002 and 2003. He is accused ofconducting surveillance of Mumbai targets infive trips over two years preceding the 2008 attacks.
Headley received approval from Rana in June2006 to open a Mumbai branch of First WorldImmigration Service as a cover for his surveillance activities, according tothe indictment. It said Rana directed a employee to prepare documents supporting the story and showed Headley how toget a visa for travel to .
The indictment said Headley photographed andvideotaped potential targets, including the Taj Mahal Hotel and other siteslater attacked with firearms, grenades and improvised explosive devices by 10terrorists who stormed through the city, killing dozens and wounding hundredsmore, including Americans.
Headley also is accused ofconducting surveillance at Jyllands Posten newspaper offices in the Danishcities of and Aahus. Rana allegedly sent a January 2009 e-mail to the newspaperpretending to be interested in placing an ad for , the indictment said.
The following month, Abdur Rehman allegedlytook Headley to meet with Kashmiri in the region of . Kashmiri reviewed Headley's surveillance and suggested using atruck bomb on the paper, according to the indictment.
That May, Kashmiri told Headley to meet withunnamed contacts in who would provide money, weapons and manpower for theattack, the indictment said. But Headley was arrested while the plans stillwere under way, it said.
Headley is charged with 12 counts. Six chargea conspiracy to murder and maim people in and provide material support to aforeign terrorist organization. The maximum punishment is the death penalty.
Rana is charged with three counts ofproviding material support to a foreign terrorist organization, with a maximumsentence of life in prison.
Kashmiri and Abdur Rehman are charged withconspiracy to murder and maim people. They would face a possible death penaltyif they were to be brought to trial and convicted.