Mumbai attacker retracts statement, denies charges

Fri, 18 Dec 2009

New Delhi - The lone Pakistani gunman captured during the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks on Friday retracted his statement admitting his involvement in the carnage and said he was forced to confess, news reports said. In a dramatic confession before the special court in Mumbai in July, Ajmal Kasab admitted to his role in the bloodbath and asked to be hanged.

But on Friday, Kasab denied all the charges against him and told the court that he was made to confess and was tortured, the NDTV network reported.

Kasab made the statement in connection with evidence placed before the court by the prosecution, which concluded its case Wednesday, seven months into the trial after examining 610 witnesses.

The NDTV report said the development was unlikely to delay the verdict in the case, which was expected in about two months.

The court is to pass its judgment after recording statements of the accused and hearing arguments in the case.

Kasab, an accused member of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group, faces 86 charges ranging from waging war on India to murder, kidnapping and destabilizing the government. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death.

Besides Kasab, two Indians, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, are accused in the case. The charges allege key planners of the assaults included LeT leaders Hafiz Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah.

The attacks damaged relations between South Asia's two nuclear powers, India and Pakistan, and derailed their five-year peace process.

According to the prosecution, Kasab was arrested November 27, 2008, the morning after he and nine other terrorists landed in Mumbai by boat from Karachi and launched the attacks.

The terrorists attacked 13 places - including two hotels, a train station, a cafe and Jewish center - and by the time the siege ended three days later, at least 166 people, including 26 foreign nationals, were dead.