Pak court adjourns hearing in 26/11 case

A Pakistani anti-terror court on Saturday adjourned for a week the hearing in the Mumbai terror attack case, against Lashkar-e-Tayiba operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six other suspects, after recording the testimony of an investigator.

Judge Malik Muhammad Akram Awan recorded the testimony of Federal Investigation Agency Inspector Nisar Ahmed Jadoon during proceedings held at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. Four witnesses were scheduled to testify today but the court could not even complete recording the testimony of the FIA official, who was part of the team that probed the Mumbai terror attacks, sources said.

At one stage, the judge asked the FIA official not to stray from the matter at hand and to limit himself to what he had actually witnessed, sources said. "The judge scheduled the next hearing for March 13," said Shahbaz Rajput, a lawyer representing some of the accused. The trial is being conducted within the heavily guarded Adiala Jail for security reasons.

The seven accused Lakhvi, Zarar Shah, Abu al-Qama, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younas Anjum are being held in the same prison. They were formally charged last year with planning and helping execute the assault on India's financial hub in November 2008 that killed 166 people.

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir met Interior Minister Rehman Malik and handed over to him a fresh dossier on the Mumbai terror attacks, provided by India. The dossier, one of the three given to Bashir during the foreign secretary-level talks in New Delhi on February 25, was provided to Malik for examination by the interior ministry, an official statement said. Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Shahid Malik accompanied the foreign secretary for the meeting with the interior minister on Friday night.

The statement did not give details about the contents of the dossier but media reports said it contained additional information about the Mumbai terror attacks uncovered by Indian investigators. India has reportedly sought details of the internet communication between the attackers and their handlers and the questioning of some Pakistan-based suspects.