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Mumbai gunman Ajmal Kasab - Source: Reuters -
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The lone surviving gunman from last year's Mumbai attacks made a
surprise guilty plea on Monday, admitting his role in the three-day
rampage that killed 166 and raised tensions between India and
Pakistan.
Pakistani citizen Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, 21, had been charged with
86 separate offences including murder and waging war against India
in the November 26-28 assault.
During a routine interrogation of witnesses on Monday, Kasab got
up and told the Mumbai court: "I have something to say. I want to
confess," prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told reporters.
He recorded a three-hour confession recounting his actions,
officials said.
"He has confessed to his role and the fact that he was involved in
the attacks that killed so many people ... the planning and the
execution," lead police investigator Rakesh Maria told
Reuters.
Kasab, who had pleaded not guilty in May, now faces a possible
death sentence.
The only one of the 10 gunmen captured alive during the
coordinated attacks on targets including two luxury hotels, a
Jewish centre and the train station, Kasab is among 38 charged in
the attack. India says most of the accused are in
Pakistan.
Kasab, who says he is from Faridkot in Pakistan, became the
physical embodiment of India's contention that its neighbouring
rival had let its soil be used to plan and launch the attacks. That
led Delhi to break off five-year peace talks with
Pakistan.
Closed-circuit video footage caught during the siege of India's
financial and entertainment capital showed Kasab carrying an AK-47
assault rifle in Mumbai's main train station.
Surprise, suspicion
Nikam said he was shocked, and suspicious of Kasab's
actions.
"There were some contradictory details from the original confession
and there are some things we will need to clarify too with the
court, like why he made this confession today and what is the
reason behind his U-turn," Nikam told reporters.
Kasab confessed to police shortly after capture, but later said he
was coerced.
Among his new statements on Monday was that an Indian he identified
as Abu Jundal had taught him and his accomplices Hindi before the
attack. He gave no other details. In the past India has bristled at
suggestions of a local hand in Mumbai.
Nikam called that new name "a ploy to divert the court's
attention". He said police would nonetheless
investigate.
Defence attorney Abbas Kazmi made no statement in court and
declined to speak to reporters. Both sides were expected to make
submissions about the confession on Tuesday, Judge M.L. Pahilyani
told reporters.
Pakistan's foreign ministry had no immediate comment.
Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar told India's CNN-IBN
television that it would "help Pakistan to get hold of all those
people who are involved in these criminal activities".
However, he added Kasab's changing story could raise credibility
issues if his testimony was used in Pakistani courts.
"I don't think that you are in a position to crack down on people
against the evidence provided by one person, somebody who is behind
bars. This statement, I don't know how much one can value that in
the court of law," Mukhtar said.
Despite an Indian-Pakistani joint statement promising greater
counterterrorism cooperation, New Delhi has remained adamant that
Pakistan must take concrete action against those responsible for
Mumbai and ensure its soil is never used to attack India
again.
'Confronting truth'
Uday Bhaskar, director of the New Delhi-based National Maritime
Foundation think-tank, said the guilty plea would support Pakistani
President Asif Ali Zardari's contention that his nation must
confront the truth about its militant ties.
"It will strengthen the hands of that part of Pakistan which is
trying to confront its own internal contradictions," Bhaskar said.
"This is part of the truth."
The two countries have fought three wars since independence from
Britain in 1947, two over the disputed Himalayan region of
Kashmir.
India says Pakistani security agencies nurtured militant groups
like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which India blames for the Mumbai
attacks. Islamabad denies state involvement, has detained some
suspects and pledged to prosecute those responsible.
Kasab's guilty plea came as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
met Indian Prime Minister Manmohah Singh, where a US official said
Indo-Pakistani relations were sure to be discussed
privately.
Asked about Kasab's plea, US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly
declined to comment.
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