Court charges Qasab with waging war against India

Ajmal Amir Qasab, the lone terrorist captured alive during the November 26 terror attacks in Mumbai, was on Wednesday charged with 86 counts, including waging war against India.

The special court, hearing Mumbai terror attack cases, fixed 86 charges that Kasab will face. The charges include murder and possessing weapons and explosives.

Qasab, however, pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

If convicted, he can face death penalty for the charges framed against him and 37 others, including two Indians Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed.

Ansari and Ahmed - the two suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists - are accused of involvement in conspiring to carry out the Mumbai terror attack November 26, 2008, that left over 170 people dead.

The trial was delayed last month after Qasab's lawyer Abbas Kazmi argued that his client was not an adult and should be tried in a juvenile court.

However, on Wednesday Qasab told the court that he was a Pakistani and was 21 years old.

Ujjwal Nikam, the special public prosecutor, said, "I am very glad to say that the cat has finally come out of the bag. Eighty-six charges have been framed against him."

"Qasab has said in the court that he is 21 years old? (he) is not a kid," Nikam told reporters as soon as he emerged from the court premises in the high security Arthur Road Jail.

The accused "had been trying to mislead the court", he said.

Qasab's lawyer Abbas Kazmi said he doesn't doubt that Kasab is a Pakistani national.

"I accept he is a Pakistani national. According to him, he is innocent and has pleaded non-guilty," Kazmi told reporters.

Kazmi quoted Qasab as telling the court, "I claim to be tried".

Kazmi added that Qasab had "accepted the court's decision that he was 21 years old" although he maintained that Qasab was 17-and-a-half and hence a juvenile.