2nd LD Writethru: Mumbai attacks main suspect admits working with Pakistan-based group

In a major advance in investigation of the 2008 Mumbai terror atacks, one of the main alleged conspirators in the attacks American national David Coleman Headley has deposed as a witness in the case admitted that he had visited Mumbai at the behest of a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative based in Pakistan, said an Indian prosecutor Monday.

Headley started his deposition before an anti-terrorism special court in Mumbai via videoconferencing from a U.S. jail early on Monday, said Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam.

Headley, 54, provided details of his passport and his seven-eight trips to Mumbai and one to New Delhi between 2006 and 2008 before the Mumbai attacks, including seven via Pakistan, according to the official.

Admitting he was a LeT operative, Headley named one Sajid Mir, a LeT operative, as his main contact in the terror group.

"This is the first time that a terrorist is deposing and tendering evidence live in a foreign country. He will divulge the largers aspects of the 26/11 (Mumbai attacks) terror conspiracy, the people behind it and related aspects," Nikam said.

Headley's evidence could help the prosecution nail the alleged co-conspirators in the attacks, according to officials.

Headley, a man with American-Pakistani origins, was asked by an American judge to disclose all information pertaining to the Mumbai attacks case which he had earlier shared with U.S. courts.

Headley had already confessed to his role in the offences in the U.S. for which he is seving a 35-year sentence in a Chicago jail. Endit