26/11 convict's bail can strain US-India relationship: US attorney
Washington/ IBNS/UNI: United States has opposed the release of 26/11 convict Tahawwur Rana, a Pak origin Canadian businessman who had applied for bail, arguing that there was possibility that he might escape to Canada and evade a probable death sentence in India, media reports said.
John J Lulejian, the assistant United States Attorney, told a federal court in Los Angeles that a bail was not a guarantee of Rana's presence in the court and could embarrass the United States in the conduct of its foreign affairs, straining the country's relationship with India.
Rana was ordered to be released on compassionate grounds citing that he had tested positive for covid-19. The 59-year-old was ordered to be rearrested in Los Angeles on June 10 after India made an extradition request for trying him in its courts.
Lulejian also requested the court to notify in advance of any contemplated release order in order to enable US to meet its treaty obligations to India.
The US attorney also pointed out that Rana is a flight risk and his escape to Canada would endanger Rana's extradition to India, where he is a declared fugitive and he should be detained without a bond.
Rana had provided support to Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) which executed the Mumbai attack. He was also convicted for supporting a never-carried-out plot to attack a Danish newspaper that printed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005. The cartoons angered many Muslims as pictures of the Prophet are prohibited in Islam.
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