As a team of Indian investigators arrived in the US to question for the first time Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative David Headley, authorities in Chicago are tight-lipped about when and for how long the access will be granted to the Pakistani-American, who has confessed to his role in the Mumbai attacks.
The US attorney's office spokesperson in Chicago, Randall Samborn, said he does not have any comment on Headley's interrogation, adding if and when the US government has anything to say on the issue, it will be announced.
An FBI Chicago spokesperson also said that due to security reasons, no information will be released at this point regarding when and how the Indian team would be given access to Headley, 49, who is currently being held at the federal lock-up Metropolitan Correctional Centre.
Headley's lawyer John Theis too said that he cannot comment on till when the team would stay in the US for the interrogation. He quipped it may stay for as much time as it needed to complete the questioning.
"At this time, I really cannot share any information about the meeting... I have seen news reports that India and US will
give a joint statement regarding the interrogation," he told PTI.
The team from India arrived in the US yesterday to interrogate Headley, charged with helping LeT terrorists to carry out the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The team comprises officers of the National Investigation Agency and a law officer. Besides the Indian team, those expected to be present during the questioning would be Headley's lawyer and an officer of the FBI.
The questioning of Headley is going to revolve around the places he had visited after the Mumbai terror attacks and the people he had remained in touch with during his stay in India.
US ambassador to India Timothy Roemer, who is in Washington for the maiden bilateral strategic dialogue, was also tight-lipped about the questioning of Headley by Indian investigators, but hoped that the access to the Pakistani-American LeT operative would "soon" be granted.
He told reporters at a reception hosted by the US-India Business Council that access to Headley is "symbolic" of the extraordinary cooperation between India and the United States.
