Pak gives guarded response on Kasab's death sentence

Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, May 6 (PTI) Pakistan Thursday gave a
guarded response to the death sentence awarded to its national
Ajmal Amir Kasab by an Indian court for his involvement in the
Mumbai attacks, saying legal experts would study the detailed
verdict.
It was also non-commital on the issue of providing
legal assistance to Kasab, who hails from Faridkot in
Pakistan.
"We have seen in India the reported judgement on Ajmal
Kasab and the sentence has been pronounced today. You will
appreciate that our legal experts need to go through the
detailed judgement," Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit
said.
"At this stage, what I can tell you is that Pakistan
has strongly condemned the horrific Mumbai attacks. It is
important that the culprits are brought to justice," he told a
weekly news briefing.
Replying to a series of questions on whether the
Pakistan government will extend legal aid to Kasab, Basit said
Kasab's lawyers in India "will make a decision as to how to
proceed".
"It is incumbent upon the government of Pakistan to
provide whatever assistance is possible to all its nationals
abroad. Having said that, we need to draw a distinction as to
where assistance is required and legitimate and where it is
not," he said.
Asked about comments by Indian officials that the
verdict against Kasab vindicated assertions about Pakistan's
role in terrorism, Basit said: "It is important to avoid such
far-fetched statements and assertions as our two countries
have agreed to resume the dialogue process.
Pakistan is approaching the resumption of dialogue in
that spirit."
A special court in Mumbai sentenced Kasab to death for
his role in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, saying that keeping such
a terrorist alive will be a "lingering danger" to the society
and the Indian government.
The court pronounced capital punishment for the
22-year-old terrorist linked to Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba
on five counts, including murder, waging war against India and
committing terrorist activities.
Basit parried a question about the Pakistan Supreme
Court's order seeking Kasab's confessional statement in
connection with a petition filed by LeT commander Zakiur
Rehman Lakhvi, seeking his acquittal in a case related to the
Mumbai attacks. (MORE) PTI RHL
RDM


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