Terror suspect Rana denies role in 26/11

Toronto: Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana, who was arrested in the US for his alleged role in the Mumbai terror attacks, has denied any role in the plot. In a statement on Sunday, he said he bears no ill will against India.

Rana, 48, was arrested on October 3 for plotting to attack the Danish newspaper that published the controversial cartoons of Prophet Mohammed in 2005.

Rana, who immigrated to Canada in 1997 and acquired Canadian citizenship in 2001, was arrested along with David Coleman Headley, alias Daood Gilani, for the plot.

Though he has denied his role in the Danish plot since his arrest, it was the first time that he spoke about the Mumbai terror attacks.

In a press release on Sunday, Rana's lawyer, Patrick Blegen, said, "Mr Rana categorically denies involvement in the tragic events in Mumbai of November 26, 2008.

"He harbours no ill will against the people of India and continues to have close family ties to the country.

"In recent years, Mr Rana's career has been geared toward assisting members of the Hindu and other communities to become legalised and established in the United States and Canada. Mr Rana has worked hard and travelled extensively to attempt to build his business. The Indian communities in Chicago, New York and Toronto are a testament to his hard work.''

Last Monday, Rana's younger brother, Abbas Rana, who is a reporter with The Hill Times weekly which exclusively covers the Canadian parliament, had said that his brother was innocent.

Abbas Rana had told his publisher Jim Creskey that "to the best of my knowledge, these charges are false.

"I know my brother. I love my brother. He's a man of integrity, he's honest, and he's a hard-working person.''

Rana, who has been running an immigration consultancy service in Chicago for the past 10 years, had travelled to India with Headley just before the Mumbai attacks.

A high-level FBI team from the US is travelling to India soon to share information they have got from their interrogation of Rana and Headley.

In the biggest terror attack on Indian soil, 10 Pakistani terrorists had unleashed mayhem in Mumbai on November 26, leading to 166 deaths during the three-day siege.