Mumbai suspect is 'Pakistani'

Pakistani officials have acknowledged for the first time that the lone surviving suspected gunman from November's attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai attacks is of Pakistani origin.

Shortly after the announcement the country's senior security adviser was sacked, apparently for leaking the news without government approval.

Mahmoud Ali Durrani, the country's national security adviser, was fired following his "irresponsible behaviour, a statement from the office of Pakistan's prime minister said.

It said Durrani had been removed "for not taking [the] prime minister and other stakeholders into confidence, and lack of co-ordination on matters of national security".

Pakistan's Geo television station quoted Yousuf Raza Gilani, the Pakistani prime minister, as saying that Durrani had made unauthorised comments to the media that suspected Mumbai gunman Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, is a Pakistani national.


Indian officials say that Kasab is the sole survivor of 10 gunmen involved in the November attacks, which left at least 179 people dead with hundreds more wounded.

On Wednesday, following Durrani's alleged comments on the issue, Pakistan's foreign and information ministries confirmed Kasab was a citizen of Pakistan.

Tensions between Pakistan and India have increased markedly in the wake of the Mumbai killings, with Indian officials expressing doubt that the attacks could have taken place without the knowledge of senior figures in Pakistan.