MUMBAI: The sole surviving suspect in Mumbai attacks told court Monday that 4 of the gunmen involved in the siege were Indians and not Pakistanis as Indian authorities allege, attorneys said.

Mohammed Ajmal Kasab said one of the alleged attackers was from Indian-administered Kashmir, one was from the Gujarat state and two others from Mumbai, public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told a US news channel.

Kasab claimed he identified them after seeing pictures of their bodies in the newspapers, Nikam said.

He, however, did not elaborate on how he knew they were non-Pakistanis, the prosecutor said.

“He’s lying again. We have rock-solid evidence in the case. His lies will have no impact,” Nikam remarked.

Last month, Kasab recanted his confession, saying he admitted to playing a role in the assault because he was pressured by police.

He, however, has not denied his Pakistani nationality.

Indian authorities say Kasab was part of a 10-member, all-Pakistani terror squad that struck the country’s financial capital in November, 2008.

More than 160 people were killed in the deadly event that derailed the fragile peace process between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.

The prosecution has examined 610 witnesses.

Indian officials have said Kasab was trained by Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a militant group that was banned in Pakistan in 2002 after an attack on India’s parliament. The group denied responsibility.

Kasab, who was photographed holding an assault weapon during the attacks, has changed his stance several times.

MUMBAI: An Indian judge on Friday decided against dismissing the lawyer of the only surviving gunman in last year’s Mumbai terror attacks, avoiding possible lengthy delays in his trial.

Judge M.L. Tahiliyani said he accepted an apology from defense lawyer Abbas Kazmi after a minor courtroom squabble and hoped the decision would help bring the trial to a swift conclusion.

Finding a replacement for Kazmi could have led to months of delays. He was appointed by the court to defend Mohammed Ajmal Kasab after several other lawyers refused to represent him.

Kasab is on trial with two Indian co-defendants accused of helping plot the attacks on Mumbai, India’s financial hub. They have been charged with 12 criminal counts, including murder and waging war against India. If convicted, all three could face the death penalty.

Thursday’s dispute arose after Kazmi accused the prosecutor of improperly handing him copies of witnesses’ statements without submitting them to the court first. The judge stated that the court had already been informed in Kazmi’s presence of the decision to submit the statements and accused the defense attorney of lying.

“How can I trust such a person,” the judge said.

Thursday was the first anniversary of the attacks, which began on Nov. 26 and lasted three days, killing 166 people.

The militants targeted 10 city landmarks, including two five-star hotels, a crowded train station and a Jewish center.

Lawrence Phillips, Former football player accused of attacking and choking his girlfriend on two occasions in 2005 was convicted yesterday of assault and other felony charges.

A jury found Lawrence Phillips, 34, guilty of seven counts, including assault with great bodily injury, corporal injury on a spouse or roommate, false imprisonment, making a criminal threat and auto theft.

He faces a sentence of up to 25 years in prison at a San Diego Superior Court hearing scheduled for Sept. 8.

Lawrence Phillips, a former NFL and University of Nebraska running back, was accused of choking his girlfriend until she lost consciousness Aug. 2, 2005, and again Aug. 13, 2005.

Deputy District Attorney Nicole Cooper said in an interview that the girlfriend testified she and Phillips were having problems before the first choking incident.

She woke up at their Mission Valley apartment and started piling Phillips’ clothes on the bedroom floor. Phillips became angry and choked the woman several times that evening, the prosecutor said.

A week and a half later, the woman and Phillips went to an apartment on Aero Drive, where he accused her of infidelity. Phillips struck the woman, causing her to fall backward into a bathtub.

They then drove to Rancho Bernardo, where Phillips apparently intended to confront the man with whom he believed his girlfriend was having an affair, according to prosecutors.

The woman ran and eventually was allowed into a nearby apartment. Police found her hiding in a bathroom, the prosecutor said.

Two of Phillips’ former girlfriends testified that he had choked them to unconsciousness on separate occasions, Cooper said. Phillips has a 2000 conviction for domestic violence from Los Angeles stemming from one of those incidents.

In October 2008, Phillips was sentenced in Los Angeles to a 10-year prison term for driving onto a field near the Los Angeles Coliseum in August 2005 and striking three boys and a 19-year-old man with his girlfriend’s car.

He had been convicted in 2006 of seven counts of assault with a deadly weapon stemming from that incident, but the sentencing was repeatedly delayed, according to previous reports.

During his football career, Phillips played for the St. Louis Rams, Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers.

MUMBAI: Three US nationals are expected to give their testimony in the 26/11 terror attack case through videoconferencing while two FBI officers
are likely to appear in person before the special court here on Wednesday.

“Two Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officers are also likely to appear in person to tender evidence,” special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said.

The services of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) have been requisitioned to provide infrastructure to enable the court to hold videoconferencing for deposition of the US nationals in the Mumbai attack case, Nikam said.

The identities of the witnesses have been kept secret for security reasons, the prosecutor said.

At least four screens would be put up in the court which is housed in the high security central prison area located at Arthur Road in central Mumbai.

The witnesses would throw light on how the ten terrorists including the lone surviving gunman Ajmal Kasab were in touch with their handlers in Pakistan through mobile phones, Nikam said.

Two FBI officials are also expected to appear in person for deposition as witnesses, the prosecutor said.

This is for the first time that witnesses from abroad are deposing in a terror attack case, Nikam said.

After the 26/11 terror attacks, in which 166 persons including six Americans were killed, FBI had also conducted a probe and collected clinching evidence which would be placed before the trial court here.

FBI sleuths would tell the court how the Mumbai terror attacks were planned and executed by Lashkar-e-Taiba and its commanders.

They would also throw light on from where the Global Positioning System was activated and how during the terror attacks the terrorists were in constant touch with their handlers in Pakistan, Nikam said.

The case of the prosecution is that some terrorists had sought instructions from wanted accused based in Pakistan through voice over internet protocol (VOIP) in New Jersey, USA.

The Mumbai police had sought the services of FBI on this aspect.

NEW DELHI: The death toll from Influenza A (H1N1) virus, or swine flu, rose to 14 with three deaths being reported from Maharashtra, two in Pune and one in Nashik.

Rupesh Gangurde, a doctor at the Nashik Civil Hospital, died, the city’s first and the nation’s 14th victim from the swine flu virus.

Shrawani Deshpande (29) was India’s 13th swine flu victim. She too died at Pune’s government-run Sassoon General Hospital.

Earlier, a 35-year-old man succumbed to the swine flu virus at the Sassoon Hospital.

The total number of swine flu casualties in Maharashtra has now gone up to 10.

Two more people have died of swine flu in Gujarat and one each in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Meanwhile, with death toll continuing to mount the authorities have stepped up efforts to curb the spread of the contagious virus.

The total number of swine flu casualties in Maharashtra has now gone up to 10.

Two more people have died of swine flu in Gujarat and one each in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Currently, there are five critical patients at Pune’s Sassoon Hospital and another two critical patients in a Mumbai hospital.

MUMBAI: An Indian judge on Tuesday adjourned sentencing on three people found guilty of planting bombs that killed 52 people in Mumbai in 2003, as the prosecutor pushed for the death penalty.

Judge M.R. Puranik, sitting at a special anti-terror court in the city, deferred judgement on Haneef Sayyed, his wife Fahmeeda and Ashrat Ansari until Thursday after hearing arguments from their lawyers.

All three were convicted of a string of charges last week, including murder and attempted murder, after two bombs exploded at the Gateway of India monument and the Zaveri Bazaar jewellery quarter on August 25, 2003.