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ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani anti-terror court on Wednesday charged seven suspects in connection with the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people one year ago, a defence lawyer said.
The men were indicted at the court in a high security prison in the city of Rawalpindi on the eve of the first anniversary of India's worst militant attacks, which dramatically soured relations with rival Pakistan.
All those in the dock pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The seven people Pakistan arrested over the November 26-29 siege on India's financial capital included the alleged mastermind of the operation, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, and alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative Zarar Shah.
"All seven of them have been indicted, including Lakhvi. The accused pleaded not guilty as the evidence does not support the charges," lawyer Shahbaz Rajput told AFP by telephone.
"They have been indicted under the anti-terrorism act and the Pakistani penal code," said Rajput, without elaborating.
India and Washington blamed the deadly Mumbai rampage on Pakistan's banned militant group LeT. The attacks stalled a fragile four-year peace process between the two nuclear-armed south Asian rivals.
The United States welcomed the court's decision.
"These indictments are an important step," a State Department official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"That is certainly a positive step but... a lot more needs to be done to make sure these types of attacks don't emanate anywhere from Pakistani soil."
In Washington for a state visit, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday he welcomed Pakistani steps to rein in extremists, but called for more action.
"It is the obligation of the government of Pakistan to do everything in their power to bring these perpetrators" to justice, Singh told reporters.
Singh said he was not briefed on the Pakistani anti-terror court's charges over India's worst militant attacks but added: "I welcome every step that leads in that direction" of reining in extremists.
However, he said "it is our strong feeling that the government of Pakistan could do more to bring to book people who are still roaming around in the country freely and to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism and I can only hope that there will be progress in that area."
US President Barack Obama said he believed Pakistan was making progress in fighting extremism.
The nuclear-armed Muslim nation is locked in offensives against Taliban militants in the northwest and has historically funded anti-India groups.
Wednesday's indictments come a week after India handed Pakistan more information about the attacks, which New Delhi blamed Pakistani "official agencies" for abetting. Islamabad flatly denies such charges.
Court proceedings have taken place behind closed doors with journalists barred from the hearings and defence lawyers leaking only small details.
"We will defend them. The next hearing is December 5," said Rajput.
New Delhi has been pressuring Islamabad to speed up a probe of Pakistani militants blamed for the 60-hour siege that saw 10 heavily armed gunmen target luxury hotels, Mumbai's main railway station, a restaurant and a Jewish centre.
Repeating India's stance, junior foreign minister Shashi Tharoor told parliament that Pakistan had failed to provide the "necessary cooperation in bringing the perpetrators of what happened last year to justice".
According to news agency the Press Trust of India, the latest information handed to Pakistan included statements of key witnesses, including a magistrate and FBI officials, from the trial of the lone gunman to survive the attacks.
The gunman, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, has confessed to his involvement in the attacks to a court in Mumbai.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since gaining independence from British rule and splitting in 1947. - AFP/de
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