Chidambaram says no U-turn by US on direct access to Headley

London, Mar 24 (PTI) India's Home Minister P
Chidambaram has said that there was no confusion over the
issue of Indian investigators getting direct access to
Pakistani-American LeT operative David Coleman Headley or not.
"No, I don't think so," Chidambaram shot back when
asked whether there was a U-turn by the US after its envoy in
New Delhi Timothy J Roemer said that "no decision on direct
access for India to David Headley has been made."
"...If you reflect more carefully that sentence (of
Roemer) no way (it) contradicts what the US Attorney (Eric
Holder) has told me," Chidambaram, who is here on an official
visit, told a TV news channel.
On Tuesday night India's Home Secretary G K Pillai
said that India was not taking cognisance of Roemer's remarks
and would be sending its investigators to the US at the
earliest.
"I think we are going ahead and we are not really
taking cognisance of the US ambassador's remarks," he said.
49-year-old Headley had last week pleaded guilty to
all the 12 terror charges of conspiracy involving bombing
public places in India, murdering and maiming persons and
providing material support to foreign terrorist plots and
Pakistan-based LeT besides aiding and abetting the murder of
six US citizens in the 26/11 attacks that killed 166 people.
Following a telephonic discussion with Holder,
Chidambaram had directed National Intelligence Agency and
other agencies concerned in the case to quickly prepare
documents necessary to start a judicial proceeding in which
Indian authorities could require Headley to answer questions
and to testify.
India is likely to send a team of investigators in
April to question Headley. PTI