Mumbai's 'baby-faced killer' trial nears end

THE prosecution case against the only accused Mumbai gunman to be captured alive will close today, one year after the attacks, bringing him a step closer to a possible death sentence.

Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, 21, who allegedly opened fire on commuters at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai's main railway station, has admitted to a high-security court that he was one of ten men who killed 166 people in a commando-style assault on India's financial capital a year ago.

To Indian eyes, however, justice will only be served when those behind the attack are brought to trial - something that they say would require more action by Pakistan, which is accused of sheltering them.

Mr Kasab, a Pakistani national, is accused of being a footsoldier for the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group. He is charged with murder and waging war on India - crimes that carry the death penalty.

However, Ujjwal Nikam, the special public prosecutor in the case, said yesterday that Mr Kasab was merely "one of the instruments" used by LeT in the attack.

"He and his associates were a small part of LeT, which wanted to inflict serious damage to India by attacking its commercial capital," he said.

Mr Nikam told The Times that Hafiz Saeed, who founded LeT, would have to be handed over to India to bring a sense of closure in the hunt for those he believes were responsible. Mr Saeed, who now heads Jamaat-ud-Dawa, an Islamic charity widely seen as a front for LeT, is one of 20 alleged terrorists that India has demanded should be transferred from Pakistan.

But Pakistan has so far declined. MrSaeed - who says he left LeT in 2002 and denies any links to terrorism - was placed under house arrest in Pakistan, but released in June. The country announced a campaign against Jamaat-ud-Dawa last December, but reports suggest that the organisation is still operating.

In Islamabad, seven men have been put on trial, including Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, allegedly one of those behind the Mumbai attacks, and Zarar Shah, who is accused of being an important LeT operative. Yesterday (Wednesday), it was announced that all seven had been indicted under anti-terrorism laws and had pleaded not guilty.

Indian officials remain sceptical about the hearings in Pakistan, which are not being held in public. The proceedings had earlier appeared to have stalled after the original judge resigned from the case, claiming that his life had been threatened. "The trial is being held in camera. How can we know anything about its progress?" Mr Nikam asked The Times.

Mr Kasab's trial, which began in April, is expected to last for about another month. However, legal experts say that even if he is sentenced to be hanged, it is likely to be at least five years before he exhausts his rights to appeal and mercy petitions.

Only then could he be sent to the gallows, a rare punishment in India.

When Mr Kasab first appeared in court he often smiled widely during the proceedings. Since then, his mood appears to have changed. In recent hearings, the "baby-faced gunman" - as he became known from widely viewed CCTV footage of him wielding an AK47 during the attacks - has complained that his food has been poisoned, and of being ill. Earlier he had claimed to be a minor; demanded a change from his vegetarian diet, and accused the police of beating a confession out of him.

Convicts in previous terror trials in India have avoided the gallows for years. Mohammad Afzal, a member of the Jaish-e-Mohammed group, who launched a deadly commando raid on the Indian Parliament in 2001, remains on death row.

Nalini Murugan, found guilty of the murder of Rajiv Gandhi by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber in 1991, had her death sentence commuted to life imprisonment after Sonia Gandhi, his widow and now leader of the ruling Congress party, intervened.

The Australian