26/11 mastermind Lakhvi gets bail in Pakistan

Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, one of the main accused in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks case, was granted bail Thursday by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad.

The Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) prosecutor disagreed with the bail plea, Dawn online reported.

However, Lakhvi's lawyer Rizwan Abbasi, appeared before the court and sought bail for his client.

The court has directed Lakhvi to pay surety bonds worth Pakistani Rs.500,000 before he can be released on bail.

Lakhvi is among the seven persons charged with planning and helping to carry out the Nov 26, 2008, Mumbai terror attacks which left at least 166 people dead.

The six other terrorists facing trial in Adiala Jail in Pakistan for their alleged involvement in the carnage are Hammad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Younas Anjum, Jamil Ahmed, Mazhar Iqbal and Abdul Majid.

At the time of the 26/11 attacks, Lakhvi was believed to be the operational head of the banned Laskhar-i-Taiba (LeT) that had been accused by India of carrying out the attacks in India's financial capital.

Lakhvi and Zarar Shah, another LeT commander, were allegedly the key planners of the attack that claimed 166 lives.

The acceptance of his bail plea came even as Pakistan is mourning the deaths of school children and other victims of Tuesday's savage Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar, in which New Delhi has also made a visible effort to show solidarity with Pakistan.

Lakhvi was arrested in Pakistan in February 2009 and was indicted Nov 25, 2009.

The trial of the case began at the ATC in Rawalpindi and it was transferred to the ATC in Islamabad in 2010.

In April this year, however, the trial came to a virtual standstill as the ATC special judge expressed his inability to conduct the trial of the seven suspects due to security reasons. This came following a terrorist attack on the district court in Islamabad in March this year.