Pakistan to challenge bail for Mumbai attacks ‘mastermind’

ISLAMABAD, Dec 19 (AFP): A Pakistani government prosecutor said Friday he will challenge a court order granting bail to the alleged mastermind of the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, which sparked strong condemnation from India.
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi is accused of planning the 60-hour siege on India's commercial capital that left 166 people dead and was blamed on the banned Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
A judge in an Islamabad anti-terror court granted Lakhvi bail on Thursday, prompting anger in neighbouring India which urged the Pakistani government to appeal.
"I am completing all the legal formalities and then I will challenge this order in Islamabad on Monday," government prosecutor Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry told AFP.
Relations between the two nuclear-armed rivals worsened dramatically after the carnage, in which 10 gunmen attacked luxury hotels, a popular cafe, a train station and a Jewish centre.
Lakhvi remained in the high security Adyala prison in garrison city of Rawalpindi even after Thursday's court ruling.
"Today I am trying to get a copy of the written (bail) order and then I will file an appeal in Islamabad high court," Chaudhry said.