Dr. Tuhawwar Rana’s Trial in Chicago as Tweeted by Colin Freeze

Colin Freeze's direct tweets from the Chicago courtroom on May 23, 2011. He is the national security correspondent for Canada's national newspaper The Globe and Mail.

Day One

1. Trial expected to expose links between Pakistani spy service and Mumbai attackhttp://t.co/nB7PRZB /via @globeandmail @colinfreeze
   
2. Bomb sniffing German shepherd at entrance of Chicago court where Tahawwur #Rana is going on trial this am... I'll be Tweeting.
   
3. About 50 reporters assembled for Chicago court media briefing prior to the opening today's #Rana trial.http://tgam.ca/C1ky
   
4. Finally inside #Ranatrial in Chicago. Tight security. US Marshals briefed media re:protocol. Things will happen soon ... http://tgam.ca/C1ky
   
5. Rana enters nodding at family, some in hijabs. He's much thinner, his hair whiter than I recall seeing him, in court 1+ year ago. #Ranatrial
   
6. Jury enters. Multicultural cross-section of working class Chicago. How will lawyers argue the murky, twisty Mumbai plot to them? #Ranatrial
   
7. Prosecutors make it simple. This is a case about two terrorist plots. One that succeeded (Mumbai) on that failed (Denmark). #Ranatrial
   
8. Prosecutor to jurors: "You'll hear from David Headley... He's gonna give a rare insider's account of planning these atrocious attacks."
   
9. Prosecutor: Tahawwur Rana was David Headley's "best friend in the world." (@ProPublica reports today DH gave TR big big loan.) #Ranatrial
   
10. USDOJ tells jurors of key figure: Major Iqbal (MI). "Headley understood MI to be an officer in Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate..."
    
11. USDOJ: ISI's Major Iqbal and terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba trained Headley tasked him with Mumbai recce of Taj/ trains harbour etc #Ranatrial
    
12. USDOJ: Rana was warned to stay away from Mumbai.Afterward, he was heard saying dead gunmen "should get Pakistan's highest military honour."
    
13. USDOJ: Pakistan's Consul General in Chicago was a "classmate" of Rana/Headley. They duped him to get visas.
    
14. USDOJ: When Lashkar wouldn't fund Denmark plot, Rana/Headley turned to al-Qaeda aligned Ilyas Kashmiri. #Ranatrial
    
15. USDOJ opening ends. Jurors have been given a War-and-Peace-sized cast of shady characters. Rana smiles and nods at family. #Ranatrial
    
16. Awaiting Rana's defence. USDOJ concluded with "not every player carries a weapon." Terrorist supporters "equally as critical." #RanaTrial
    
17. Please read this moving account of the Mumbai Massacre from Canadian survivor Helen Connolly.http://tgam.ca/C1qo #Ranatrial
    
18. Defence begins: "David Headley is a master manipulator who made a fool of Doctor Rana." #Ranatrial
    
19. Defence:"Headley was living multiple lives with multiple people and he was very good at it." #Ranatrial (3 wives & wrking 4 ISI/LeT/USDEA!!)
    
20. Defence: Rana was a model student at Pakistan Military boarding school. Classmate Headley flunked out. #Ranatrial
    
21. Defence: Best buds. Rana put his house when Headley got busted for smuggling heroin in 1990s.Headley later loaned Rana $100,000. #Ranatrial
    
22. Rana's bio: Star Student. Pak Army doctor. Served in first Gulf War w/ coalition. Gets altitude sick when assigned to mountains. #Ranatrial
    
23. ... Rana goes to Germany to heal, goes AWOL. Immigrates to Canada. Moves to Chicago to start businesses. #Ranatrial
    
24. Defence paints Rana as Headley's dupe. Relies on Rana's travels to India during Mumbai Massacre as proof he was not in the loop. #Ranatrial
    
25. Jurors look shellshocked. Trying to absorb twisty roles of Rana/Headley/Iqbal/Kasmiri/LeT/ISI/USDEA/Pasha/Mumbai/Denmark/etc. #Ranatrial
    
26. Defence opening is over. First witness -- likely David Headley -- expected after a break. #Ranatrial
    
27. David Headley takes a seat in the witness box and exchanges a meaningful look with his former best friend ... #Ranatrial
    
28. Headley doesn't faintly resemble a South Asian. Only vaguest traces of an accent speak to his Pakistani heritage.
    
29. Headley-Rana shared quarters in Pakistani miltary boarding school. Students used to talk about India/Indians there... #Ranatrial\
    
30. Headley: "I disliked them (Indians). Dismembered Pakistan. ... My junior school was bombed (in 71 war)" etc. #Ranatrial
    
31. Headley lived in Lahore in 2000 when he first made contact with Lashkar-e-Taiba. "I went to a meeting. I listened to speeches." #Ranatrial
    
32. LeT head gave a speech at a house with 200+ people. "He said one second spend conducting jihad was superior to 100 years praying."#Ranatrial
    
33. Headley says LeT wages jihad to avenge civilian deaths and to force India to comply with UN resolutions re: Kashmir.#Ranatrial
    
34. Why does LeT wage Jihad? "They felt it was an obligation," Headley says. All LeT members are Salafis, he says.#Ranatrial.
    
35. Why does LeT wage Jihad? "They felt it was an obligation," Headley says. All LeT members are Salafis, he says.#Ranatrial
    
36. Headley graduated through a series of training camps. First, Koranic studies. Then small arms training. AK47s etcs. ...#Ranatrial
    
37. Headley then learned spy and commando techniques. Deap drops. Safehouses. Hostage rescue. Breaching. Etc. #Ranatrial
    
38. Headley wanted to fight Indians in Kashmir but "I was told they (LET) would find something better and more suitable for me." #Ranatrial
    
39. By 2003 Headley attended LeT lunches with LeT Leader Hafez Saeed and operations commander "Zeki"...#Ranatrial
    
40. Headley suggested LeT sue US govt for designating it a terror org. LeT leaders Zeki said "he would have to consult with ISI..." #Ranatrial
    
41. "These groups operate under the umbrella of the ISI ... They coordinate with each other.": Headley #Ranatrial
    
42. Headley says he changed his name in 2005 so "nobody would be able to tell I was a Muslim or a Pakistani." Says he briefed LeT. #Ranatrial
    
43. "Pasha" -- Headley accomplice -- was a Pakistani Major retired early after he refused to seal off the Tora Bora border in 02 (!) #Ranatrial
    
44. Headley was arrested near Peshawar in 2005. "I said I was Pakistani they didn't believe me. They thought I was a foreigner." #Ranatrial
    
45. An ISI figure sprung Headley, and put him in touch with "Major Iqbal" (alleged co-conspirator) for the first time. #Ranatrial
    
46. Eyewitness: As trial begins, Canadian recalls surviving 2008 Mumbai Massacre http://t.co/45Xa4RZ /via @globeandmail @colinfreeze
    
47. Headley says he came up with immigration-office front but ISI's "Major Iqbal" gave the plan his blessing. #Ranatrial
    
48. "He thought it was very suitable for the work he wanted me to do," said Headley. He told LET handlers he was now with ISI too #Ranatrial
    
49. Headley says ISI's Maj. Iqbal tasked him to set up in Mubai and befriend influential people "who live in military facilities." #Ranatrial
    
50. Headley and Maj. Iqbal conspired to radicalize Rana. Gave him Salafi teachings, Jihad tapes, to enlist his help, Headley says. #Ranatrial
    
51. Rana was not initially OK with attacks on non-combattants, Headley testifies. Rana said Koran precludes such attacks. #Ranatrial
    
52. Headley's LeT handlers told him to "prostrate lightly" during prayers lest he get a mihrab (forehead scar) and blow his cover. #Ranatrial
    
53. This is key Headley testimony about Rana. The whole trial turns on this ... #Ranatrial ...
    
54. Setting up Mumbai firm"I explained to him I had been drafted, as it were, by the ISI, ... But I still had contacts with Lashkar." #Ranatrial
    
55. "I asked if he would allow us to use his office as a front ... He agreed." #Ranatrial
    
56. "I was instructed too take general video of the city (Mumbai) .... I took many many hours.". Headley now being shown pix of Taj. #Ranatrial
    
57. "An immigration consultant is a person of great influence in India," Headley says. Before recce mission he was 2 cozy up 2 important people.
    
58. In 06 Headley tells Rana of ISI $ backing. "I told him that Major Iqbal would be providing me with $25,000...." #Ranatrial
    
59. Headley rented Mumbai apt. from an elderly couple. Presented himself as "South Asian Regional Director" for Chicago consultancy. #Ranatrial
    
60. What happened when clients turned up at the Mumbai consultancy? "I sometimes spoke to them myself. ... #Ranatrial.
    
61. "... I sometimes arranged conference calls with Dr. Rana ... I would see if it was worthwhile." #Ranatrial
    
62. Rana was financially beholden to Headley at time of the conspiracy. Owed him up to $50,000 at the time from a 2001 era debt. #Ranatrial
    
63. After 3 months in India in late 2006, Headley returned to Pakistan to brief ISI Maj. Iqbal and LET Sajid Mir. It was Jan. 2007... #Ranatrial
    
64. Headley's ISI and LET handlers BOTH told him to recce 2nd floor of Taj Hotel. Why? "Defence contractors and scientists" met there #Ranatrial
    
65. Headley says he spoke to his ISI and LET handlers in separate meetings, but each always knew what he told the other. #Ranatrial
    
66. (We really haven't heard enough about Maj. Iqbal's bonafides. Headley doesn't say much about him save for the fact he's ISI.) #Ranatrial
    
67. (This trial is a Twitter epiphany for me. Had just over 1,100 followers this a.m. Now closing in on 2,000...) #Ranatrial
    
68. Before break Headley said he had gotten to know Shiv Sena figures in a bid to "get friendly with their leadership." Spy basically #Ranatrial
    
69. Rereading Helen Connolly as I stare a David Headley glare a the jurors as they come back in ... http://t.co/45Xa4RZ/via @globeandmail
    
70. USDOJ: Why were you seeking (Chicago consutlancy) business cards ? Headley: "To authenticate my cover." (Feared being stopped and searched)
    
71. March 2007 Headley: "I made some video of the Oberoi hotel. Very good hotel as well. Less status than the Taj."
    
72. May 2007 -- Headley returns to Pakistan. Gives new Taj video to Major Iqbal. "I briefed him ...I told about meeting Raja Rege..." #Ranatrial
    
73. Headley had been inside Shiv Sena complex took footage. ISI's Major Iqbal "was pretty amazed I got inside ...It was a bid deal." #Ranatrial
    
74. Headley returned to US to tell Rana about he was doing videotaped recce oof sites in Mumbai. #Ranatrial Zeroed in on exits and entrances.
    
75. In May 07 Headley's one year visa toooo India expired. He went back to Chicago got a 5-year visa. #Ranatrial
    
76. Rana "helped me get my (5 year) visa," Headley says. (Despite posing as an immi consultant, Headley never got anyone a visa) #Ranatrial
    
77. In 07 ISI Maj. Iqbal tasked Headley to go back to Taj a third time, for "more detailed" video and try for conference schedules. #Ranatrial
    
78. Headley told Maj. Iqbal / Sajid Mir he had struck out on acquiring Taj conference schedules. "No big deal." Forked over more videos.
    
79. Headley went to LET HQ. Group's military chief showed him 2-foot styrofoam Taj mockup."He envisioned a few men going in and opening fire..."
    
80. LET told Headley not to "take his (Mumbai) friends in his heart. Specific mention of a "Rahul." Still his enemies.. #Ranatrial
    
81. LET showed Headley videos of 02 anti-Muslim mob violence in Gujarat; hundreds slain. USDOOJ: Did it motivate your jihad? H: Yes. #Ranatrial
    
82. March 08. Headley meets his LET handlers again. This time there is "a navy frogman" with them. "They were looking at sea charts." #Ranatrial
    
83. LET's original plan was to land the gunmen in boats at The Gateway of India landmark. Headley nixed that. Unfeasible and unsafe. #Ranatrial
    
84. "The frogman agreed with me," Headley says. #Ranatrial
    
85. Planners nixed proposal to boat gunmen in a few miles from city. Too dumb to hail taxis. "These boys would not be sophisticated" #Ranatrial
    
86. Headley says he was told to visit the BhaBha Nuclear Research Centre in India by Maj. Iqbal.
    
87. The original plan was "egress" not suicide. Stick the gunmen in a safehouse or get them to buses or trains after, Headley says. #Ranatrial
    
88. LET "gave me a global positioning device. Any location I wanted to save on that device, they showed me how to do it." Headley #Ranatrial
    
89. There was also a plan to ship in extra weapons/bombs in Mumbai, stash it for a future group, Headley says. #Ranatrial
    
90. ISI Major Iqbal's email address was apparently chaudherykhan@yahoo.com. Used a NYC mobile too (646 area code.) #Ranatrial
    
91. "All calls between Pakistan and the United States all -- most -- of them are monitored Headley says. #Ranatrial(End run around FISA/NSA?!)
    
92. Headley seems to be a man without any emotion or contrition. Very calm factual and terse . "I recommended bringing ordinance," etc.
    
93. The plotters disagreed about whether they should stash weapons in Mumbai. Some saw attacks as a one-off, others as a vanguard. #Ranatrial
    
94. In spring 08 Headley says he gave Rana lowdown on Mumbai plan. "That seems to a shift from the original plan" R. "Yes it was," H #Ranatrial
    
95. "I told (Rana) I discussed these things with Major Iqbal, whatever I had done in India." #Ranatrial
    
96. Headley says he told Rana that LET's e-foot styrofoam moockup of the Taj was a "terrible" mockup. Rana laughed. Allegedly. #Ranatrial
    
97. Trial closes with an interesting bit about nuke plant recce. I find this interesting b/c FBI was interested in Rana's interest I nukes ...
    
98. Headley says he told Rana he had been tasked to visit nuke plant once. Rana is said to have replied there's an IndoPak treaty ... #Ranatrial
    
99. Making any such aggression illegal. Headley says the nuke plant recce was pure surveillance not foor any attack.
    
100. That's it for the trial today. I'll be back tomorrow at 930 am Chicago time.