Pak gets more info on Mumbai attack

ISLAMABAD: India has handed Pakistan more information about the deadly Mumbai attacks ahead of the first anniversary of the carnage that killed 166 people, Islamabad said Wednesday.

"The dossier was handed over to our high commission in New Delhi by the Indian ministry of external affairs," Pakistan's foreign ministry said.

India and Washington blamed the November 26-29 siege on Pakistan's banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the attacks stalled a fragile four-year peace process between the two nuclear-armed south Asian rivals.

New Delhi has already handed over seven dossiers and has blamed Pakistani "official agencies" for abetting the 60-hour assault by 10 militant gunmen -- charges that Islamabad flatly denies.

According to India's domestic news agency Press Trust of India, the latest dossier contains statements from key witnesses, including a magistrate and FBI officials, from the trial of the lone gunman captured by the police during the attacks.

The gunman, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, has confessed to his involvement in the attacks and testimony from a Mumbai magistrate who heard the admission has been included in the dossier, PTI said.

India has also sent statements from officers from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who told the trial that mobile phones recovered from the scene of the attack were used to communicate with Pakistan

"Arrangements have been made for the receipt of the dossier in Islamabad," Pakistan's foreign ministry said.

The ministry gave no details on the contents of the file, which it said would be forwarded to the interior ministry "for examination".

New Delhi has put pressure on Islamabad to speed up its investigations into those who carried out the attacks.

Pakistan has put on trial seven suspects accused by India of involvement in last year's attacks, but Interior Minister Rehman Malik has repeatedly asked India to provide more information to bring the perpetrators to justice.

India had previously provided information relating to suspects and the logistics of how 10 heavily armed gunmen targeted luxury hotels, Mumbai's main train station, a restaurant and a Jewish centre.

Those in custody in Pakistan include alleged mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and alleged key LeT operative Zarar Shah.

The two countries, which gained independence from British rule and split in the 1947 partition, have fought three bitter wars.