Judge issues gag order in case of Mumbai gunman

MUMBAI, India - An Indian court that heard a stunning confession from the lone surviving gunman in the Mumbai attacks put a gag order on his latest testimony - a message to his handlers in Pakistan and a description of the indoctrination he received before coming to India.

The order resulted in a rare information blackout in what has been one of the best documented extremist attacks in history, with video footage, cell-phone intercepts, photographs, and witness accounts playing across the media for months.

The judge yesterday deferred a decision on whether to accept Ajmal Kasab's confession, which has complicated the onerous task of defending a man whose image - he was photographed toting a gun and striding through Mumbai's main train station - quickly became an emblem of the carnage.

The confession, which describes in detail a shadowy, well-organized network of training camps and safe houses in Pakistan, also bolsters India's allegations that Islamabad is not doing enough to clamp down on extremist groups.

The three-day siege of India's financial capital in November left 166 dead, strained Pakistani-Indian relations, and put the brakes on a peace process between the nuclear-armed enemies. Kasab and nine other gunmen had traveled by boat to Mumbai, then split into pairs and killed people at a rail station, a Jewish center, a hospital, and two five-star hotels.

The Press Trust of India reported yesterday that a copy of Kasab's confession would be given to a Pakistani court in Rawalpindi, where a trial is being held for five alleged members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani extremist group. Lashkar operatives have denied charges that they played a role in the Mumbai attack.

In his confession, Kasab said one of the Lashkar men, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, saw him and nine other young men off on their suicide mission.

Kasab pleaded not guilty to 86 charges including murder and waging war against India, which is punishable by death. He said he made his about-face Monday because the Pakistani government acknowledged he was Pakistani and began proceedings against the alleged masterminds of the attack.

In court Monday and yesterday, Kasab took responsibility for much of the carnage during the siege, confirming prosecution evidence, including video footage, guns, bombs, identity cards, and maps.