Mumbai massacre trial delayed at last minute

THE long-awaited trial of the only surviving Mumbai massacre gunman failed to start today after his lawyer was barred from representing him.

Judge M.L. Tahiliyani said Anjali Waghmare had failed to disclose that she had also represented a witness injured in the attacks in a compensation claim case and therefore had a conflict of interest.

Judge Tahiliyani said he would appoint a new lawyer for suspect Mohammed Ajmal Kasab.

Kasab, the only gunman captured during the November attacks, which left 164 people dead, could face the death penalty if he is convicted of 12 criminal counts, including murder and waging war against India.

Kasab stood barefoot in the courtroom, dressed in a grey T-shirt and blue sports pants, his hair shaggy and his beard scruffy. In his first public appearance, he chatted and chuckled with his co-defendants, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, both Indians charged with helping plot the attacks.

Kasab also asked Judge Tahiliyani to get him a Pakistani lawyer, to which the judge replied that a similar request from him had already been forwarded to the Pakistani consulate without any reply.

"Please try one more time," Kasab asked, to which the judge replied, "OK."

The court will meet tomorrow to decide on Kasab's legal defence, the judge said.

Preparations have been made for the trial to begin in a special bombproof courtroom set up in the central Mumbai jail where Kasab is being held.

A sea of khaki-clad police and special forces wielding assault rifles surrounded the courthouse in an unprecedented show of security.

Reporters covering the trial were fingerprinted, issued two special passes, searched three times – and offered pens because they were not allowed to bring their own.

The trial has already faced several delays as security arrangements were made.

India has blamed the Mumbai attacks on Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist militant group widely believed to have been created by Pakistani intelligence agencies in the 1980s to fight Indian rule in the divided Kashmir region.

Pakistani officials have acknowledged that the attacks were partly plotted on their soil and announced criminal proceedings against eight suspects. They have also acknowledged that Kasab is a Pakistani national.

Indian police have also filed charges against two Indian citizens suspected of aiding the attackers.