India and Washington blamed the November attacks on Pakistan’s banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the siege stalled a fragile four-year peace process between the two nuclear-armed south Asian rivals.
Pakistan confirmed last Saturday that seven suspects had been arrested in connection with the attacks and vowed to secure convictions in a special court, which has been conducted so far behind closed doors.
‘The judge was on leave today so the hearing could not take place. The next date of hearing is October 3,’ Shahbaz Rajput, a defence lawyer representing two of the suspects, told AFP.
The anti-terrorism court has been set up in the high-security Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, a garrison city adjoining the capital, Islamabad.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said last Saturday that the seven men would soon be charged over the 60-hour rampage but called on India to provide more information to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Court officials say those in custody include the alleged mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and alleged key LeT operative Zarar Shah.
India has put on trial Pakistan’s Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the sole surviving gunman of the Mumbai attacks and who has made a dramatic confession.
India insists it will resume talks to normalise ties only after Pakistan brings to justice the alleged perpetrators and has blamed Pakistani ‘official agencies’ for abetting the assault which Islamabad flatly denies.
