The lone militant suspect captured by police during the Mumbai attacks that killed 165 people told a court Monday that he needed a lawyer to defend him. The only gunman charged in last year's terror attacks in Mumbai told the court on the first day of court proceedings that he would agree to a government-provided lawyer and also repeated that he was a Pakistani national. Mohammed Ajmal Amir Iman, also known as Kasab, appeared before special judge M.L. Tahiliyani via a video link from a Mumbai jail where he is being housed in a high-security cell. Dressed in a grey T-shirt, the bearded Iman, when asked by the court if he wanted a lawyer for the trial, replied, “If there will be a trial then I will need a lawyer.” Special judge M.L. Tahiliyani asked Kasab to identify himself and asked him where he was from. Kasab replied that he was from Faridkot, in Pakistan's Punjab province. Tahiliyani asked Kasab if he could see him clearly through the video link and then introduced himself as the judge heading his trial. Kasab, who looked relaxed, said, “Namaste,” a popular Hindu greeting. Kasab told the court that he had no legal counsel so far and when Tahiliyani asked if he would like the court to provide him with a lawyer, he said, “do whatever you think is right.” The 21-year-old Iman, who said he would accept a government-appointed lawyer, was the only alleged member of the 10-man hardline commando-type unit captured alive during the November 26-29 siege. Charges against Iman include murder, attempted murder and “waging war against India.” Iman, who is reported to have received anonymous death threats, was not produced in court for security reasons. Two Indians – Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin – accused of being members of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group and of scouting Mumbai landmarks before the attacks also appeared in court by video conference. “They have both requested for lawyers and the court will take a decision,” Nikam added. India has charged 38 people, including Kasab and the two Indians, in connection with the case. Most of the accused reside in Pakistan, the Indian government says. Pakistan sends DNA data to Interpol Pakistan has provided Interpol with DNA profiles of suspected terrorists linked to the Mumbai attacks, the international police agency said Sunday. Interpol said it immediately ran the information through its international database of some 85,000 DNA profiles to help Pakistani investigators carry out their search for “the full international dimension” of the attacks. It did not say if there were any matches. Interpol said from its Lyon, France, headquarters that it had received the information Saturday – about two weeks after announcing that Pakistan planned to hand over the DNA profiles. The agency said its 187 member countries can also compare their individual DNA databases against the data from Pakistan. Interpol said Pakistan agreed to share the DNA profiles obtained during a probe by Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency to help determine if there were broader international links to the attacks. The Interpol statement Sunday didn't specify how or from whom the DNA information was culled.
