Ajmal Kasab: India maintained secrecy, says Pakistan daily

Bangalore, India: "Ajmal Kasab hanged: Indian media" That was today's headline on the Pakistani newspaper The Dawn.

India told Pakistan on Tuesday that Mukherjee had rejected the mercy petition of the surviving 26/11 gunman Ajmal Kasab and a death warrant had been issued in the name of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist.

The accused behind the Mumbai 2008 attacks, Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab, was hanged in Yerwada jail at 7.30 am on Wednesday.

The Dawn quoted media reports as saying: "the death warrant for Kasab was signed on Nov 8 after his appeal for mercy was rejected on Tuesday by Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and that the government was maintaining secrecy over the issue."

The Indian mission in Islamabad informed the Pakistani government about Kasab's hanging through a letter, but Pakistan refused to take the letter, which was later faxed.

"Like it or not, there are fundamental issues between the two countries that have to be resolved; but by holding everything hostage to the terrorism issue, India may have in fact given the terrorists a perverse incentive to try harder the next time," the Dawn editorial read.

Pakistan had admitted that the 26/11 attacks in 2008 were planned partly on its soil, but denied any official involvement. It charged seven alleged plotters behind the attacks in 2008 but had insisted more evidence to convict them.

Kasab initially pleaded not guilty but later confessed he was one of the gunmen sent by the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Al Jazeera's Sohail Rahman said that the execution happened very quickly. "The state of Maharashtra said they did not want him to be executed until there was a more conclusive summary of who was responsible for that attack," he reported.

India blames the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant organisation for training, equipping and financing the gunmen with support from "elements"in the Pakistan military.

Kasab is the second person to be hanged by Indian government in 15 years. A former security guard was hanged to death in 2004 for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl.

However, Last Thursday Pakistan reported its first execution in four years. Muhammad Hussain was hanged in Mianwali jail for killing his senior, a havaldar.

However, The Dawn said Pakistan and India also need to learn "the right lessons from experience," including measures to prevent another Mumbai-like incident.