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Indian court appoints new lawyer for Ajmal Kasab

MUMBAI: An Indian court on Thursday appointed a new lawyer to represent the only Islamist militant suspect captured during last year's attacks on Mumbai.Advocate Abbas Kazmi was appointed to defend Mohammed Ajmal Kasab a day after his high-profile trial started in disarray, with a previous lawyer dismissed by the trial judge because of a conflict of interest.The 21-year-old Kasab, said to belong to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), faces a string of charges including "waging war" on India, murder, attempted murder and kidnapping.He faces the death penalty if convicted of taking part in the November 2008 rampage of killing in India's financial capital, which saw 10 gunmen land in the city by boat and murder more than 160 people.During Thursday's court proceedings, Kasab asked the judge to allow him to immediately meet his new defence.The court has granted him permission, and also informed the accused that a request for legal aid had been sent to Pakistan. Kasab had asked for a Pakistani lawyer, but was told his advocate had to be Indian.The trial has been dogged by the issue of who should defend Kasab.Last year, the Mumbai Metropolitan Magistrate Court's Bar Association said it would not represent him, while the Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena party called for Kasab to be executed without trial outside a Mumbai railway station.

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