After Headley, US realised white-skinned people too could be

After the arrest of Lashkar-e-Taiba member David Coleman Headley, who was a part of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack conspiracy, the agencies in the US realised that even "white-skinned" people could be involved in terrorism, a journalist who wrote a book on him said here today.
Karen Sorenson, a Danish journalist and author of 'A mind of a terrorist', a book on Headley, was speaking at Times LitFest here.
Security expert Maroof Raza moderated the interaction.
Prior to Headley's arrest, US agencies had not thought that a white-skinned person could be involved in terror activities, unlike those from the Middle-East and Asia, but Headley belied this thinking, Sorenson said.

According to the prosecutors here, Headley had conducted a recce of locations in Mumbai which were targeted by terrorists during the 26/11 attack.
Sorenson said how a US national like Headley, born in Washington and having worked for US security agencies, ended up in LeT and played double agent was a mystery. It was the British who found about his terror involvement, he said.

The US needed to answer these questions (about failure to zero in on Headley earlier), Sorenson said.
The soft-spoken Headley, who wore Armani suits and claimed to be businessman, was a "perfect terrorist", the journalist said.

"During working on book, I went through his about 9,000 email conversations. In these conversations he did mention about his motivations, but not about his acts anywhere," Sorenson said.
The purpose of Mumbai attack was to destabilise India and create a fear among its citizens. Headley's arrest also proved Pakistan's ISI and LeT were behind this attack, he said.
Headley, lodged in prison in US, will die in prison, he said.
Speaking during the discussion, Raza said operations like 26/11 cannot be carried out without help from within.