A courtroom artist's drawing shows businessman Tahawwur Rana during his trial in Chicago's federal court in January 2010. AP Photo
A courtroom artist's drawing shows businessman Tahawwur Rana during his trial in Chicago's federal court in January 2010. AP Photo
A courtroom artist's drawing shows businessman Tahawwur Rana during his trial in Chicago's federal court in January 2010. AP Photo
A courtroom artist's drawing shows businessman Tahawwur Rana during his trial in Chicago's federal court in January 2010. AP Photo

Mumbai attacks: Pakistani-Canadian faces extradition to India from US


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A former Chicago businessman imprisoned for aiding terrorist groups has been arrested in Los Angeles to face murder charges in India for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed more than 160 people.

Tahawwur Rana, a Pakistani-born Canadian, has been charged in India with conspiring to plot and carry out the deadly attacks that are sometimes referred to as India’s 9/11.

Rana, 59, was convicted of a terrorist charge connected to the group behind the Mumbai slayings, although US prosecutors failed to prove he directly supported the four-day rampage.

He was serving a 14-year sentence when he was granted early release from a Los Angeles federal prison last week because of poor health and a bout of coronavirus. But he never got out of prison before being arrested to face extradition to India, prosecutors said.

He has been charged with murder and murder conspiracy in India, according to court documents. A request for comment from Rana's public defender was not immediately returned.

Smoke billows from the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, India during a terrorist assault on the city in November 2008. AP Photo
Smoke billows from the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, India during a terrorist assault on the city in November 2008. AP Photo

Rana was convicted in Chicago in 2011 of providing material support to the Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which planned the India attack, and for supporting a never-carried-out plot to attack a Danish newspaper that printed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2005.

Jurors cleared Rana of a more serious charge of providing support for the attacks in Mumbai, India’s largest city, that killed 166, injured nearly 240 and caused $1.5 billion (Dh5.5bn) in damage.

Rana's lawyer said at trial that he had been duped by his high school friend, David Coleman Headley, an admitted terrorist who plotted the Mumbai attacks. The defence called Headley, the government’s chief witness who testified to avoid the death penalty, a habitual liar and manipulator.

Rana was accused of allowing Headley to open a branch of his Chicago-based immigration law business in Mumbai as a cover story and travel as a representative of the company in Denmark.

Prosecutors said Rana knew Headley had trained as a terrorist. Headley shared information of the scouting missions he conducted in Mumbai and of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel, where gunmen later slaughtered dozens of people.

Headley, who was born in the US to a Pakistani father and American mother, said his hatred of India dated to his childhood when his school in Pakistan was bombed by Indian military planes during a war between the countries in 1971.

Months after the Mumbai attacks, Headley, who did not take part in the attacks, told Rana he was “even with the Indians now”, according to a court document. Rana said they deserved it.

Headley, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder, was sentenced to 35 years in prison. As part of his plea deal, he cannot be extradited to India.

Only one of the 10 Mumbai terrorists survived the attack and went on trial. He was convicted, sentenced to death in India and hanged in 2012.

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Company profile

Name: Back to Games and Boardgame Space

Started: Back to Games (2015); Boardgame Space (Mark Azzam became co-founder in 2017)

Founder: Back to Games (Mr Azzam); Boardgame Space (Mr Azzam and Feras Al Bastaki)

Based: Dubai and Abu Dhabi 

Industry: Back to Games (retail); Boardgame Space (wholesale and distribution) 

Funding: Back to Games: self-funded by Mr Azzam with Dh1.3 million; Mr Azzam invested Dh250,000 in Boardgame Space  

Growth: Back to Games: from 300 products in 2015 to 7,000 in 2019; Boardgame Space: from 34 games in 2017 to 3,500 in 2019

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Fatima Al Darmaki is an Emirati widow with three children

She has received 46 certificates of appreciation and excellence throughout her career

She won the 'ideal mother' category at the Minister of Interior Awards for Excellence

Her favourite food is Harees, a slow-cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled wheat berries mixed with chicken

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Recipe

Garlicky shrimp in olive oil
Gambas Al Ajillo

Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

180ml extra virgin olive oil; 4 to 5 large cloves of garlic, minced or pureed (or 3 to 4 garlic scapes, roughly chopped); 1 or 2 small hot red chillies, dried (or ¼ teaspoon dried red chilli flakes); 400g raw prawns, deveined, heads removed and tails left intact; a generous splash of sweet chilli vinegar; sea salt flakes for seasoning; a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Method

Heat the oil in a terracotta dish or frying pan. Once the oil is sizzling hot, add the garlic and chilli, stirring continuously for about 10 seconds until golden and aromatic.

Add a splash of sweet chilli vinegar and as it vigorously simmers, releasing perfumed aromas, add the prawns and cook, stirring a few times.

Once the prawns turn pink, after 1 or 2 minutes of cooking,  remove from the heat and season with sea salt flakes.

Once the prawns are cool enough to eat, scatter with parsley and serve with small forks or toothpicks as the perfect sharing starter. Finish off with crusty bread to soak up all that flavour-infused olive oil.