Kasab can be tried in India, says Pakistan

Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone Pakistani terrorist captured during the terror attack on Mumbai in November last year, can be tried in India as he had committed a crime in that country, Pakistan's Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar said on Saturday.

India could conduct Kasab's trial according to its own laws, Mukhtar told reporters.

The accused, who had been detained in Pakistan in connection with the Mumbai attacks,  will be brought to trial in a Pakistani court, said Mukhtar, a senior leader of the ruling Pakistan People's Party.

Pakistani officials have claimed that formal charges have been filed in connection with the Mumbai attacks against nine suspects, including Kasab. Six of the other eight suspects have been detained by Pakistani authorities while two are still at large. A judge has remanded four of the detained suspects to the custody of the Federal Investigation Agency till March 3.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said today that Pakistan will take the next step in its investigations into the Mumbai terror attacks after getting India's response to a set of questions seeking more information on the incident.

Qureshi said Pakistan had given India a set of 30 questions along with its response to the Indian dossier on the Mumbai attacks.

"We are waiting for their response and we will take our next step in light of the information provided by India," he told reporters.

"We are treating the issue seriously and our effort is to get to the bottom of the matter," he said.

Islamabad recently acknowledged Kasab as a Pakistani national. Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said the government is considering the possibility of sending an investigation team to India as part of its probe into the Mumbai attacks.