Pakistan rejects Kasab's "under pressure" confessions

Islamabad: Pakistan has rejected Ajmal Amir Kasab's confessions regarding his involvement in the 26/11 carnage.

Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar termed Kasab's confessions as "one sided" and said that it was made "under pressure".

"I don't know how much one can value them (statements) in the court of law. The statements are one-sided and they were made by a person who is under the custody of Indian jail authorities. If he has stood up and given this statement I don't know under what pressure he was," Mukhtar told televisions channels.

He also questioned the credibility of confessions, saying Kasab has changed his statements in court on several previous occasions.

"There cannot be any credibility of the statement of a person who has changed his statements a couple of times," The Nation quoted Mukhtar, as saying.

When enquired that whether the confessions would lead to crackdown on terrorist groups operating in the country, Mukhtar said one cannot crack down on groups on the basis of confessions by a person behind bars.

"They (confessions) are no evidences. These were provided by a person who is behind the bars. We cannot crackdown on people based on his statements," he said.

Mukhtar reiterated that New Delhi should hand over all evidence against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks, and said Islamabad is committed to bring the masterminds to justice.

Earlier, Kasab, the lone surviving attacker of November 2008 attack, pleaded guilty to the offence before a Mumbai court.
For the first time in his confession, Kasab said, "Mujhe mera gunha kabool hai (I plead guilty to my crime)."

Narrating the entire plot, he confessed that he came along with nine other terrorists in a boat from Karachi.

Kasab also owned up for his involvement in attacks at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) and at Cama Hospital.

He named Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative and alleged mastermind Zakir-ur-Rehman Lakhvi as the key conspirator, saying he was instructed to conduct a fidayeen (suicide) attack in Mumbai.

Kasab has been charged with murder, conspiracy and waging war against India along with other crimes. His trial was to have started on April 15 but was put off as his lawyer, Anjali Waghmare, had been dismissed for a conflict of interest. He has sicne been represented by a new lawyer named Abbas Kazmi.

Kasab's confession came two days after the Pakistan Government filed a chargesheet against five 26/11 prime accused suspects.