Pakistani Court Rejects Mumbai Attack Report
A Pakistani court has rejected the findings of a commission that traveled to India to investigate the 2008 terrorist attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai.
India had allowed an eight-member group made up of Pakistani prosecutors and defense attorneys to visit and gather information related to the cases of seven Pakistanis currently on trial for involvement in the attacks.
On Tuesday, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court said the commission's report could not be used as evidence against the suspects because commission members were not allowed to cross-examine Indian officials. The panel took statements from two Indian doctors, a police official and a judge.
Lawyers for the Pakistani suspects had filed a court petition, saying the commission's report has no legal value.
In New Delhi, India's Home Secretary Raj Kumar Singh told reporters that India would ask for a copy of the Pakistani court's judgement. "And then we will discuss with Pakistan as (to) what are the next steps," he said. "We believe the material which is there is admissible as evidence because statements were taken by a magistrate."
Ten gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a train station and a Jewish center in Mumbai, India's financial hub, in November of 2008, killing 166 people. The lone surviving gunman has been sentenced to death.
India blamed the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba for the three-day siege. It claims the attacks were carried out with state support from Pakistan -- a charge denied by Islamabad.
Source: Voice of America
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