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India - Pakistan

Mumbai gunman to hang

The surviving gunman of a coordinated attack on Mumbai in 2008 was sentenced to death Thursday after a year-long trial. Pakistani national Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab is to be hanged, although observers say there is likely to be a lengthy appeal.India has not executed anyone since 2004, but the prosecution asked for the death penalty because of the premeditated nature of the attacks.

Reuters
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In the 2008 attacks, ten gunmen attacked and besieged hotels, a railway station, a restaurant and a Jewish centre, killing 166 people.

Kasab and an accomplice killed 52 people at the railway station. He was captured on camera using an AK-47 rifle. During his trial, the prosecution called him "cruelty incarnate".

Only two executions have been carried out in India since 1998. Kasab's lawyer has pleaded for clemency, saying Kasab was brainwashed by Pakistan-based extremists.

India suspended peace talks with Pakistan after the attacks. New Delhi wants Pakistan to convict the two members of the Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, its founder Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and another operative, Zarar Shah.

It has also accused the head of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa charity, Hafiz Saeed, of masterminding the attack.

The Indian government said the verdict sends a strong message to Pakistan not to export terrorism.

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