Pak panel to quiz officials in Mumbai from Mar 17: Prosecutors

Islamabad, Mar 10 (PTI) A Pakistani judicial panel will travel to India and interview key officials during March 17-20 as part of the probe into the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, prosecutors said today. The Pakistani prosecutors gave anti-terrorism court Judge Shahid Rafique details of the commission's visit to India beginning on March 14, sources told PTI. The panel will travel from Lahore to Delhi, where its members will be briefed by Indian authorities. The next day, the commission will travel to Mumbai. The panel will record the statements of key Indian officials in Mumbai during March 17-20 before returning to Pakistan, the prosecutors told the court during proceedings held behind closed doors at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. The anti-terrorism court is conducting the trial of seven suspects, including Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, who have been charged with planning, financing and executing the terror attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people in November 2008. Besides two prosecutors and the coordinator, the commission includes five defence lawyers and an official of the Foreign Ministry. The commission is scheduled to record the statements of the magistrate who recorded the confession of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving attacker, the police officer who led the investigation in Mumbai and two doctors who conducted the autopsies of the terrorists and victims. The commission can only record the statements of these persons and it cannot conduct any cross-examination, Indian officials said. The trial of the seven Pakistani suspects has stalled due to various technical issues for the past year. Pakistani prosecutors have said the commission's visit to India is necessary to take forward the trial. PTI