An anti-terrorism court judge hearing the Mumbai attacks case in Islamabad on Wednesday summoned Aizaz Chaudhry, Secretary of Pakistan’s Foreign Office, for January 4 to inform the court whether or not Indian witnesses could be produced in the court.
Judge Sohail Ikram also fixed the same date for the indictment of Sufyan Zafar, the alleged financier of the attacks.
Mazhar Kakakhel, Director of the Counter Terrorism Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), requested the court to give the agency more time to probe the Indian witnesses. The judge asked Mr. Chaudhry to inform the court, at the next hearing, of the steps Pakistan had taken to interview the Indian witnesses.
Meanwhile, the lawyer for Sufyan Zafar withdrew — without citing any reason — his application challenging the jurisdiction of the court. Zafar is accused of arranging funds for mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and others.
An FIA team last week interviewed Munir, a witness, in Karachi where the attackers had hired the boat to travel to India. The other suspects — Mazhar Iqbal, Hammad Amin Sadiq, Abdul Wajid, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younus Anjum — are being tried at the Adiala Prison in Rawalpindi. Lakhvi has been out on bail since last year.
