What a shameless coward terrorist... killed innocent people in hospitals, hotels, rail station but in the court started crying for pardon! This terrorist killed a guy in CST whom I knew.... After years of hard work he got a job few months back in Mumbai ....... God will never forgive them.....
Washington post:
washingtonpost.com
Pakistani Gunman Found Guilty for Role in Mumbai Attacks
New Delhi 03 May 2010
India's Special Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, center, speaks to reporters as he holds a report following the verdict outside the special court set up for the trial of Pakistani Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, accused of being the sole surviving gunman in the 2008
India's Special Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, center, speaks to reporters as he holds a report following the verdict outside the special court set up for the trial of Pakistani Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, accused of being the sole surviving gunman in the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, India, 3 May 2010
In India, a court has convicted a Pakistani national for his role in the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people. He was the only gunman captured alive during the assaults, which strained ties between India and Pakistan. Two Indians, also on trial in connection with the attacks, have been acquitted.
A year and a half after India's financial hub was devastated by terror attacks, a special court found Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, 22, guilty of murder, waging war against India and other charges.
Kasab heard the judgment impassively. He was one of 10 gunmen who arrived by sea and attacked Mumbai's main rail station, two five-star hotels, a restaurant and a Jewish center in November 2008. The assaults lasted three days and claimed 166 lives.
Kasab is the only gunman who survived. He was arrested on the first night of the attacks. Footage from closed circuit cameras showed him armed with an AK 47 rifle at the rail station where scores of people died.
The sentence will be pronounced on Tuesday. He could face the death penalty.
Indian authorities say the attacks were orchestrated by the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, of which Kasab is a member.
Islamabad has admitted that Kasab is a Pakistani citizen and that the attacks were partly plotted on its soil.
Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram said Monday's verdict sent a clear signal to Pakistan.
"The judgment itself is a message to Pakistan that they should not export terror to India," he said. "If they do, if the terrorists are apprehended, we will be able to bring them to justice and give them exemplary punishment."
Citing lack of evidence, the court acquitted two Indians, Fahim Ansari and Sabaauddin Ahmed, who were on trial for conducting reconnaissance before the attacks. The prosecution is likely to appeal the verdict.
India charged 38 people in connection with the attacks, but most of them live in Pakistan.
The trial has been concluded fairly quickly in a country where judicial proceedings can drag on for years. The trial witnessed several twists and turns as Kasab first pleaded innocence, then made a surprise confession, but later retracted it.
The Mumbai terror attacks were among the worst that India has suffered. They prompted New Delhi to suspend peace talks with Pakistan, but both countries are now taking steps to normalize ties.
New Delhi has accused Islamabad of not doing enough to bring the perpetrators of the attacks to justice, and wants Pakistan to act against militants operating from its soil.
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Pakistani Gunman Found Guilty for Role in Mumbai Attacks | Asia | English
Indian court convicts Pakistani militant in Mumbai attacks
Media wait outside the special court set up for the trial of a Pakistani accused of being the sole surviving gunman in the 2008 terror attacks, in Mumbai, India, Monday, May 3, 2010. The verdict in the trial of Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, allegedly one of ten gunmen who killed 166 people in a three day rampage in November 2008, which continues to strain relations between India and Pakistan, is expected later in the day. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
An armed Indian security officer patrols outside the special court set up for the trial of a Pakistani accused of being the sole surviving gunman in the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, India, Monday, May 3, 2010. The verdict in the trial of Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, allegedly one of ten gunmen who killed 166 people in a three day rampage in November 2008, which continues to strain relations between India and Pakistan, is expected Monday.
Devika Rotwan, who was shot in her leg during the Mumbai attacks in 2008, walks by the landmark Taj Hotel in Mumbai, India, Monday, May 3, 2010. The verdict in the trial of Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, allegedly one of ten gunmen who killed 166 people in a three day rampage in November 2008, which continues to strain relations between India and Pakistan, is expected Monday.
Monday, May 3, 2010; 8:54 AM
NEW DELHI--A 22-year-old Pakistani militant was found guilty Monday of "waging war on India" during the brazen November 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people and strained relations between the nuclear-armed rivals.
Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, who bowed his head during the verdict, will be sentenced Tuesday and could face the death penalty.
It was an emotional day for many Indians, since Kasab is the lone surviving gunman from the gun-and-grenade ambush on India's financial capital, a powerful strike at the very city that has been at the forefront of India's economic boom.
Kasab was videotaped by security camera during the two-and-a-half day siege, crazy-eyed and shooting up the city's busiest railway station. Prosecutors say Kasab was one of two militants who killed 52 people there.
A total of 610 witnesses testified during Kasab's trial, case, which ran for 271 days and produced a 1,522-page verdict that was read aloud today in a packed courtroom on the jail premises in Mumbai where Kasab is being held for security reasons.
Judge M.L. Tahiliyani acquitted two Indians who had been accused of helping plot the attacks.
Office workers and school children across the country gathered at television sets to watch the verdict for the attacks which are known in India as 26/11, mirroring the way Americans refer to the 2001 al-Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington. The world watched on live television as hostages from around the globe were terrorized for days at two luxury hotels and a Jewish outreach center, and Indian commandos struggled to kill the gunmen.
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The country remains deeply divided on how Kasab should be punished, with some saying the death penalty will only further the cycle of bloodshed. "I will never have the mother of my children back," said Santanu Saikia, whose wife, Sabina Sehgal Saikia, an editor with Times of India newspaper and a food critic, was killed in her room on the fifth floor of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel. "We have taken a decision that we are going to forgive Kasab in her memory. What else can we do?"
On the world stage, the Mumbai massacre has brought relations between India and Pakistan -- who have fought three wars -- to a new low. The Obama administration wants to ease tensions on the subcontinent and has been urging both sides back to the table. That way, Pakistan could focus on fighting the Taliban on its western border with Afghanistan.
At talks at regional conference last week in Bhutan, the countries' prime ministers agreed to agreed to begin rebuilding relations. But in a chilling reminder of the fragility of those talks, a terror attack warning in India all weekend kept many families locked indoors and sparked debate on Sunday talk shows about whether negotiations are realistic.
India says the Pakistan-based group Lashkar-i-Taiba, whose name means "Army of the Pure," ordered the November attacks. During the announcement of Kasab's verdict, the judge said India had evidence that Kasab was a part of Lashkar-i-Taiba. India has been frustrated over Pakistan's slowness in dismantling the group.
The planning of the Mumbai attacks stretched to Chicago, where David Coleman Headley, 49, arrested in a Chicago airport in October, acknowledged attending training camps sponsored by Lashkar-i-Taiba and changing his name from Daood Gilani to avoid notice in India.
Headley made five trips to Mumbai, where he videotaped possible targets and used a global-positioning device to help the plotters, who went on to attack the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, a Jewish Chabad center and the train station, prosecutors said.
In Faridkot, Pakistan, where Kasab lived first 14 years of his life, residents had little to say about him in advance of the verdict.
"Ajmal brought a bad name to this village," said Tufail, 23, who lives across the narrow alley where Kasab's house was. "We're happy that the family is out of this village."
Special correspondent Mohammed Rizwan contributed to this report from Faridkot, Pakistan.
