Kasab is Pakistani national: Dawn News

Islamabad, Jan 7 (PTI) Ajmal Amir Iman 'Kasab', the lone
terrorist captured during the Mumbai attacks, is a Pakistani
national, a media report said Wednesday, citing "a preliminary
investigation" conducted by authorities here.

An unnamed "very senior government official" told Dawn
News channel that a preliminary investigation carried out by
Pakistani law enforcement agencies had established that Kasab
was a Pakistani national.


The government is yet to take a decision on providing
consular access to Kasab, the channel quoted official sources
as saying. There was no official word on the development.

The news channel quoted sources as saying that the
preliminary investigation had established that Kasab was a
resident of Faridkot village of Okara district in Punjab
province and the son of Amir Kasab and Noor Elahi.

Kasab's parents said he had left home about four years
ago and there had been few contacts between him and the family
since then. They also said they had recognised him when his
photos were flashed by the media after the terrorist strike.

Copies of the report of the preliminary investigation had
been submitted to the Interior Ministry and Prime Minister
Yousuf Raza Gilani, the sources told the channel. A formal
announcement about the findings of the investigation is
expected to be made in the "next few days".

The preliminary investigation had also established that
the Mumbai attackers were operating on their own and had no
links with any section of Pakistan's security apparatus, the
sources claimed.

Earlier in the day, Gilani also said that Pakistan's own
investigation into the Mumbai attack had "progressed."

The sources told the channel that Pakistan's own
investigation into the antecedents of Kasab had started soon
after reports suggested that he was a Pakistani national.

The law enforcement agencies wanted to be doubly sure as
there were no records of Kasab in Pakistan's national
database, the channel said.

The identity of the nine other terrorists involved in the
Mumbai attacks is yet to be established, Dawn News quoted the
sources as saying.

The law enforcement agencies are now working to ascertain
how Kasab reached Mumbai to carry out the attacks, the sources
were quoted as saying.

Kasab's father had confirmed to Pakistan's Dawn newspaper
soon after the Mumbai attacks that the gunman whose photos
were beamed around the world by the media was his son.

Other residents of Faridkot had told Geo News channel
that Kasab had last visited home about six months before the
attacks occurred and told his mother that he was going away
for 'jehad'.

Pakistani authorities have received a letter from Kasab
in which he has asked for consular access and legal aid. PTI