26/11 case: Pak presents evidence against suspects

The Pakistan government presented evidence against Lashkar-e-Tayiba operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six other suspects before an anti-terrorism court for their involvement in the Mumbai attacks.

The government's team of prosecutors presented evidence against the accused in the court of Judge Malik Muhammad Akram Awan in Rawalpindi, sources said.

The details and nature of the evidence could not immediately be ascertained.

"Following the presentation of evidence, the judge adjourned the matter till February 13," said Shahbaz Rajput, a lawyer for some of the accused.

Defence lawyers had boycotted the last hearing on January 23 in protest against the failure of authorities to provide them security and facilitate their meetings with their clients at Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail in line with an order of the Lahore high court.

Judge Awan is conducting the trial in 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 also being held in Adiala Jail.

They accused had been formally charged last year with planning and helping execute the assault on India's financial hub in November 2008 that killed 166 people.

A Rawalpindi-based division bench of the Lahore high court this week reserved its decision on a petition filed by Lakhvi seeking his acquittal in the case in the anti- terrorism court.

Lakhvi filed the petition in the high court to challenge the anti-terrorism court's decision dismissing an earlier plea for acquittal.