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India police 'name Mumbai gunmen'

Other News Materials 9 December 2008 22:37 (UTC +04:00)

Indian authorities have released the names or aliases of the nine suspected militants killed during last month's attacks in the city of Mumbai (Bombay), BBC reported.

Photographs of eight of the men were released - the body of the ninth was said to have been too badly burned.

Police said all were from Pakistan. They did not say how this was known but one gunman, named as Azam Amir Qasab, survived and has been interrogated.

The attacks began on 26 November and left at least 170 people dead.

India has blamed Pakistani-based militants Lashkar-e-Taiba for the attacks.

Earlier Pakistan said it had arrested two leading militants but that it would not hand them over to India.

Mumbai's chief police investigator Rakesh Maria showed photographs of the men taken from their bodies or from the ID he said they were carrying.

He said all were aged between 20 and 28. Some of the militants had just one name and had used aliases during training.

The youngest was identified as 20-year-old Shoaib, alias Soheb, who was said to be from Punjab province.

Three attackers were said to have come from the central Pakistani city of Multan, Mr Maria said.

He said the group leader was a Lashkar "veteran", Ismal Khan, 25, from North West Frontier Province.

The photographs taken from dead bodies are too graphic to show.

Indian investigators have said survivor Azam Amir Qasab was indoctrinated by Lashkar-e-Taiba (Soldiers of the Pure) and trained at a camp run by the group.

Some media reports have suggested that truth serum may be used as part of his interrogation.

Earlier Pakistani Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar said Jaish-e-Mohammad founder Masood Azhar and Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi had been held.

Mr Lakhvi is the Lashkar commander India suspects of planning the Mumbai attacks.

"Lakhvi was picked up yesterday. Azhar has also been picked up," Mr Mukhtar told India's CNN-IBN channel.

He also repeated Islamabad's request for evidence to be shared with Pakistan.

"Both US and India say they have ample proof but why is it hidden from us?" Mr Mukhtar asked.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, meanwhile, repeated that Pakistan would not hand over to India any of its citizens arrested in connection with last month's attack.

He said that about 16 people had been detained for questioning so far in a crackdown against banned Islamist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Reports say Pakistani police have also ordered the sealing of some offices used by Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the Islamic charity seen as a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Mr Qureshi added: "We do not want to impose war, but we are fully prepared in case war is imposed on us. We are not oblivious to our responsibilities to defend our homeland."

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