"Working together to bring terrorists to justice and we won't stop"

NEW DELHI: The United States Court has given the mandate that the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, the 26/11 Mumbai attacker, should occur, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said on Tuesday, adding that it is a sort of collaboration and cooperation where both the nations are working together "to bring terrorists to justice, and we won't stop."

Answering a question whether India can expect an early expedition, in an exclusive interview with ANI, Garcetti said, "The system allows for an appeal, but the court did give the mandate that this extradition should occur. And that's my expectation."

Mentioning the 9/11 (US attack ) and 26/11 (Mumbai Attack), Garcetti said, "We've all lived through trauma and tragedy. I was down in Mumbai at the Taj Hotel commemorating the victims that we lost, including Americans in those horrible attacks. We know that we stand together, and a recent demonstration of this was, one of the funders of that attack that happened in Mumbai, is now by an American court said that he can be extradited from the United States. There are a couple more steps of appeals, but it's that sort of collaboration and cooperation where our people are working together to bring terrorists to justice, and we won't stop."

Earlier, this month, US Court said that the 26/11 Mumbai attacker Tahawwur Rana should be extradited to India under the extradition treaty between India and the US.

The order read that the Court has reviewed and considered all of the documents submitted in support of and in opposition to the request and has considered the arguments presented at the hearing. And on the basis of that, the court makes the decision and certifies to the Secretary of State of the United States the extractability of Rana on the charged offences that are the subject of the request. US Magistrate Judge of the US District Court of California, Judge Jacqueline Chooljian, said in a 48-page court order dated May 16.

Rana was arrested in the US on an extradition request by India for his role in the Mumbai attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing over 160 people, including six Americans, at iconic and vital locations in Mumbai. Indian authorities allege that Rana conspired with his childhood friend David Coleman Headley to assist the Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba " in the orchestration of the terror attacks. Headley and Rana attended military high school in Pakistan together.

Rana's immigration law centre in Chicago, as well as a satellite office in Mumbai, was allegedly used as a front for their terrorism activities between 2006 and 2008, prosecutors say. Headley, the master plotter of the 26/11 Mumbai attack, had pleaded guilty and testified against Rana.