The U.S. trial of a Pakistani businessman accused of providing support to terrorists is expected to open a window into two terrorist organizations and the men who plotted the 2008 Mumbai attacks, AFP reports.
The trial, due to start Monday in Chicago, comes as Pakistan struggles to deflect accusations it aided Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden, who U.S. commandos killed in a raid on May 2.
Chicago businessman Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 50, is charged with providing material support by acting as a messenger and providing a cover for a key figure in the bloody 60-hour Mumbai siege that killed 166 people.
According to AFP, David Coleman Headley -- Rana's old friend from military school in Pakistan -- has been cooperating with prosecutors ever since his October 2009 arrest and will be a star witness at Rana's trial.
Jurors are also expected to hear a series of conversations between the two men secretly recorded by the FBI.
Headley formally admitted to 12 terrorism charges in March 2010 after prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty or to allow him to be extradited to either India, Pakistan or Denmark to face related charges, AFP reports.
The Washington-born son of a former Pakistani diplomat and American woman, Headley admitted to spending months scoping out sites for the Mumbai siege and plotting to kill a Danish cartoonist.
Jury selection in Rana's trial begins on Monday. Opening statements are expected May 23.
