Rana has been charged with providing material support in preparation for and in carrying out the Mumbai attacks and for the Denmark terrorism plot.
Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana today pleaded not guilty to preparing the groundwork and providing material support for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) to carry out the Mumbai terror attacks.
Rana, 49, who was arrested by the FBI along with his schoolmate David Coleman Headley in October 2009, was produced before a Chicago court for arraignment in connection with Mumbai terror strikes as also for plotting attacks on a Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten.
Rana, who was brought to the court with his hands and legs shackled, pleaded not guilty to the charges framed against him.
Magistrate judge Arlander Keys in the district court in Northern District of Illinois, who heard the case, set the next date of hearing for February 24. During today's hearing, none of Rana's family members were present in the court.
The judge asked the accused about his age, date of birth and questions like was he aware of the charges framed against him. Rana responded to all the queries posed by the judge during the proceedings, which lasted for about 10 minutes.
Headley and Rana have been indicted on charges of plotting the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008 that killed 166 people, including six Americans.
In its 12-count superseding indictment against Headley and Rana, the jury had on January 14 gave extensive details of the planning of the Mumbai attack by the LeT and how its leaders guided the terrorists during the four-day siege beginning November 26, 2008 that killed 166 people, including six Americans.
Ilyas Kashmiri, a Pakistan-based terrorist linked to al-Qaeda, and Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed, a retired major in the Pakistani military, were also indicted along with Headley and Rana.
Rana was charged with providing material support in preparation for and in carrying out the Mumbai attacks and for the Denmark terrorism plot, besides offering material support to LeT.Prosecutors allege that Rana helped his friend Headley, a key suspect in the Mumbai attacks, by allowing him to use his immigration company as a cover for surveillance trips to India and Denmark.
Rana, who owns the Chicago-based First World Immigration Services that Headley allegedly used as a cover, insists that he is a pacifist who was "duped" by his friend.
Rana had also claimed that he was a Pakistan Army deserter. After the hearing, Rana's lawyer Patrick Blegen told reporters that he pleaded not guilty to the charges framed against him.
"He (Rana) is contesting the allegations," he said.
The lawyer said he wants his client to be out on bail because Rana is not a risk of flight.
"Rana wants to fight (against) the charges and clear his name and not to disappear from the country," he said.
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