Jail security reviewed on eve of 26/11 attack trial

Accompanied by a high-level team of police and civil officials, Khan went around the jail complex which also houses the newly constructed Special Court, a police official said.

Special Judge M L Tahilyani will preside over the trial - scheduled to start Wednesday - of arrested Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir alias Kasab and two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) activists, Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Mohammed.

Shortly afterwards, Khan said that he had carried out the review of the jail and the courtroom premises inside and expressed satisfaction with the security and arrangements for the much-awaited trial made there.

"Our intention is to ensure that the trial proceeds without further delays and the outcome is known in the shortest possible time," Khan added.

The main accused, Kasab, Fahim and Sabahuddin, are currently lodged in the jail complex in separate cells, where extra security measures have been taken and put under 24-hour electronic surveillance.

The entire complex - situated in the heart of the congested south Mumbai - is guarded by a three-tier security network consisting of Mumbai Police, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the jail's own security.

Khan told journalists that the intention of his visit was to ensure that people living in the locality were not inconvenienced on account of the high-profile trial.

Kasab is expected to be presented before the special judge for the first time since Tahilyani took over the case. Until now, Kasab and Tahilyani have been communicating through video-conferencing.

At the trial, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam will lead the prosecution case while court-appointed government lawyer Anjali Waghmare will appear on behalf of Kasab.

Nikam said that certain pending formalities will be completed Wednesday by the court, which will then decide the date for the commencement of the day-to-day hearings in the matter.

Nine men hanged in Sudan for beheading journalist

Mohamed Taha Mohamed Ahmed, editor of al-Wifaq newspaper, was kidnapped from his home in 2006. His decapitated body was found in the streets of Khartoum a day later.

Sudan found ten members of the Fur tribe, one of the tribes in Darfur that has been fighting the Arab government, guilty of the crime. One was later acquitted.

The Sudan Tribune said the nine men were hanged in a Khartoum prison Monday, in front of Mohamed Taha's relatives.

The authorities said that articles he wrote in his newspaper questioning the scale of rape against women in Darfur and criticising rebel groups angered the nine men.

Amnesty International condemned the conviction of the executed men, saying their confessions were extracted under torture.

Mohamed Taha had also angered Islamists by reprinting an article questioning the roots of the Prophet Mohammed.

The conflict in Darfur began in 2003 when mainly non-Arab tribesmen took up arms against what they called decades of neglect and discrimination by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum.

The UN says up to 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced by the conflict. The Sudanese government claims around 10,000 have died.

Taliban gun down young couple for eloping

He said that the boy and girl loved each other but their parents were opposed to their marriage. To get married, the couple left their homes.

The Taliban acted upon the complaints of the parents. They arrested and shot them dead, Azad said.People in far-flung rural areas where Taliban are active often approach the militants to settle their disputes.

Pak Taliban bans shaving beard in FATA

Islamabad: Days after announcing a ban on divorce, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has now barred men in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Bajaur region from shaving their beards.

Announcing the ban over the outfit's illegal FM radio station, the TTP's Bajaur Agency chief Faqir Muhammad said severe punishment would be handed out to those who do not follow the restrictions.

The TTP has also announced a ban on drug peddling, non-government organisations (NGO) from working in the agency, and has termed the grants under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) as 'haram'.

Muhammad said some people have been arrested for their involvement in the BISP and would be punished according to sharia.

"People assisting women in getting ID cards made and distributing BISP money among them would be arrested," he warned.