Helped 26/11 terrorists at the behest of Pak Govt: Rana

[Sidhu...Sidhaarth Roy]

Chicago, Apr 12: Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the Pakistani Canadian accused in the Mumbai terror attack case, has claimed before a court here that he provided "material support" to the terrorists at the behest of the Pakistan Government and its spy agency ISI and not the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Rana in his defence, which is to be produced before the court here, said his "alleged illegal acts of providing material support to terrorists -- were done at the behest of the Pakistani government and the ISI, not the Lashkar terrorist organisation," according to court documents.

The documents have been published by Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail ahead of Rana's trial that is set to begin on May 16.

They reveal that Rana in his defence, which was struck down by the Illinois court, said: "ISI has authority to act in India to protect Pakistan's national interests.