26/11 case: Pak judicial panel in India soon

In a move that could be seen aimed at addressing India’s “core concern”, Pakistan has conveyed that it will send a judicial commission on 26/11 Mumbai terror strike to India soon, government sources told Hindustan Times. Jayanth Jacob reports.

In a move that could be seen aimed at addressing India’s “core concern”, Pakistan has conveyed that it will send a judicial commission on 26/11 Mumbai terror strike to India soon, government sources told Hindustan Times.

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India had told the interlocutors of Nawaz Sharif regime that unraveling full conspiracy in the Mumbai terror case of 2008 and bringing the guilty to justice is a domestic imperative for normalising ties with the neighbour.

Pakistan’s move also comes at a time when preparations are underway for a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting (UNGA) in New York in September. Unlike the early occasion, the judicial commission will have the powers to cross-examine the witnesses in the case. But Pakistan has so far not conceded on Indian demand for voice sample of the suspected handlers in the case.

Meanwhile, the trial of seven Pakistanis, including Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, charged with his involvement in the Mumbai attacks was adjourned on Monday till July 20 as four witnesses in the case could not appear before the court.

Anti-terrorism Court judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi held the hearing in Islamabad and adjourned the case after four witnesses — Hamza Bin Tariq, Muhammad Ali, Mohammad Saifullah Khan and Umer Draz Khan — did not turn up for cross-examination.