The case filed against ISI by relatives of a Rabbi killed in the 26/11 attacks, could be ”disastrous” as the negative reaction against it would undermine the US goals in the region, the lawyer representing the Pakistani intelligence agency has said.
Kevin Walsh, the lawyer, asked for the case to be thrown out warning of its negative consequences and potential to fuel violence and extremism, The New York Post reported.
“The consequences of this judicial inquiry have the potential to be disastrous,” Walsh argued in a letter filed yesterday with a federal judge.
“The intrusion of these actions into the politics of Pakistan will fuel violence and extremism, directed against the government the US intends to support,” the attorney argues.
Walsh argued that US courts do not have jurisdiction over government agencies in Pakistan, The Post reported.
Last year, relatives of Rabbi Gavriel Noah Holtzberg, who was gunned down along with his pregnant wife, Rivka, during the Mumbai attacks, sued ISI and terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, in the Brooklyn Federal Court for wrongful death.
The Rabbi and his wife, who originally were from Brooklyn were killed when the attackers entered the Chabad Lubavitch centre in November 2008.
While the unborn child was killed, their two-year-old son was rescued by his Indian nanny in the attack that killed 166 people.
The lawsuit claims that ISI has worked closely with LeT and seeks damages. The claim is largely based on the involvement of Pakistani American national David Headley in conducting detailed surveillance of the attack targets for LeT. Headley has pleaded guilty to plotting the attacks.
“The alliance with Pakistan is an extremely sensitive, important and difficult relationship for the United States,” Walsh said in the letter.
Case in US against ISI could be ‘disastrous’: lawyer
