We strongly reject claims that Headley, Rana are associated with LeT: Abdullah Ghaznavi

Lashkar-e-Taiba blamed for last year's attacks on Mumbai, denied Monday that two men arrested in Chicago on terrorism charges were among its members. David Headley, a Pakistani-born American, and Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, were arrested in October on charges of plotting attacks in India and Denmark. India has accused both of links to Lashkar-e-Taiba. "We strongly reject claims that Headley and Rana are associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba," the group's spokesman Abdullah Ghaznavi told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.
"We strongly condemn it. All our members are locals (Kashmiris) and none of our activists are present in America." "Linking the two to Lashkar is a game plan to malign Lashkar at an international level," Ghaznavi said, repeating that his group denied any involvement in the Mumbai attacks. He said the group was only active in Kashmir "to end India's illegal occupation". India, the United States and Britain all blame LeT for the attacks on Mumbai, in which 10 heavily armed gunmen killed 166 people. US FBI officials will visit India to share information on the two men being held in Chicago, reports in New Delhi said Monday. Indian media, citing unnamed officials, recently said Headley intended to strike two elite boarding schools and a military academy in India and that he had befriended prominent people from Bollywood.