India wants life sentence for U.S. terror suspect Headley

NEW DELHI, March 19 (Xinhua) -- India Friday said that it wanted a death sentence for U.S. terror suspect David Coleman Headley who has reportedly entered into a plea bargain before a U. S. court to escape death penalty and extradition to India for plotting Mumbai terror attacks and conspiring to attack a Danish newspaper.

"All that we know is that he has been pleaded guilty to all the 12 counts which were charged against him, In one sense, that is good, because that would ensure that he gets a very major sentencing. The Attorney General of the United States has advised a sentence of life imprisonment and if he gets the sentence, I don’t think the Government of India would be unsatisfied," Indian Home Secretary G.K. Pillai told the media in the national capital.

On other details of the seeking access to Headley for questioning, the Home Secretary said: "We will have to see that some mention has been made that foreign judicial testimony can be allowed. We will have to work out the details with the United States government agencies and that's a matter of detail to be worked out in the coming weeks after the sentencing is over."

Headley Thursday pleaded guilty to all 12 charges of terror before a Chicago court.

In a related development, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said that India would continue to push for Headley's extradition even though he has entered into a plea bargain.

"The U.S. authorities have agreed to address our requests. We will chargesheet Headley in the Mumbai terror attacks case at a suitable date," he said.