Court puts off Mumbai attack hearing

RAWALPINDI (AFP/Reuters) - A court on Saturday adjourned until October 3 a hearing for seven suspects accused by India of carrying out the Mumbai attacks, a lawyer said. India and Washington blamed the November attacks on Pakistans banned 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. The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan are due to meet in New York on Sunday, but India has said formal peace process talks will only be resumed after Pakistan takes decisive action against perpetrators of the assault on its financial capital. India also wants Pakistan to prosecute Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, founder of the outlawed LeT. 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.

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