Kasab is a terrorist, should be hanged: Rehman Malik

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Islamabad, Nov 10, 2011:  Ajmal Kasab is a terrorist and should be hung, said Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik today.

"Kasab is a terrorist. He is a non-state actor. He should go to the  gallows," Malik told Indian journalists in Maldives where India and Pakistan have sent delegations headed by their Prime Ministers to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit.

Kasab was the only terrorist caught alive during the 26/11 attacks in which 10 young men from Pakistan sailed into Mumbai and unleashed an unprecedented terror attack. 166 people were killed, so were nine of the terrorists.  Kasab has been sentenced to death by the Bombay High Court; he has appealed against this in the Supreme Court in Delhi.

India has said that Pakistan must take effective action against people like Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi, a senior commander of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) who it holds responsible for helping to plan and execute the 26/11 attacks.  Mr Lakhvi and six others allegedly involved with 26/11 are in a jail in Rawalpindi.  India has expressed its frustration with the slow pace of their trial.

That could change, Mr Malik said today, with a visit to India by a judicial commission from Pakistan.  In the past, Pakistan has said it would like access to Mr Kasab to cross-question him about 26/11.  The Interior Minister said future developments will depend on whether the commission finds "credible evidence" against those on trial in Pakistan.  He said ideally, the commission should be allowed to visit India for three or four days "as long as "you can accept them as guest."

Asked about Pakistan removing Jamat-ud-Dawa from the terror list, Mr  Malik said, "Information is not evidence and there is need for concrete legal evidence for keeping them in the terror list". On the release of JuD founder Hafiz Saeed, he said, "He was bailed out by the highest court of Pakistan and the government can’t do anything about it".

Courtesy: NDTV