In a surprise verdict, a US jury cleared Pakistan-born Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana of charges he helped with the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks but convicted him of helping Lashkar-e-Taiba, held responsible for the carnage.

He was also convicted by a jury in federal court here Thursday for his role in a thwarted plot targeting a Danish newspaper that printed controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad sparking protests in the Muslim world.