Pak court puts off hearing of Mumbai suspects till Oct 3

Rezaul H Laskar

Islamabad, Sep 26 (PTI) A day ahead of a crucial meeting
of Indo-Pak foreign ministers where investigations into the
Mumbai terror attacks would be the focal point, an anti-terror
court has put-off till October 3 the trial of seven suspects,
including LeT operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi as the
judge was on leave.

Judge Baqir Ali Rana of the anti-terrorism court No 2 is
conducting the trial of the seven suspects within
high-security Adiala Jail in the garrison city of Rawalpindi
due to security reasons. No proceedings were held Saturday as
the judge was on leave, officials sources said.

The court authorities set October 3 as the date for next
hearing, the sources told PTI.

Significantly, Interior Minister Rehman Malik had said
recently that the suspects would be formally indicted at
Saturday's hearing.

The decision to put off the trial came as India has
demanded speedy investigation of the accused in the Mumbai
terror attacks, particularly JuD chief Hafiz Mohd Saeed.

The issue is set to dominate the meeting between India's
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Pakistani
counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi in New York on Sunday on the
margins of the UN General Assembly. Their meeting would be
preceded by talks between the Foreign Secretaries of the two
nations in New York Saturday. (More) PTI