Islamabad: A trial of seven Pakistanis suspected in last year's attacks on Mumbai was delayed after lawyers went on strike on Saturday to protest against a militant attack near Pakistan's military headquarters.
India blames the outlawed Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for the attack, which killed 166 people and strained ties further between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
Here are brief profiles of key figures among the seven, as well as LeT founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who is not on trial. India had accused him of masterminding of the Mumbai attack and says he must be prosecuted.
Hafiz Mohammad Saeed
A well-built former university teacher who was born in 1950, Saeed co-founded Lashkar in 1992. The group was nurtured by Pakistan's military and the ISI spy agency as a means to challenge India's control over Kashmir. He stepped down as its chief after India accused the group of being behind a militant attack on its parliament in December 2001. The group was banned in 2002.
Saeed, a fiery speaker who usually sports a henna-coloured beard, now heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa Islamist charity, which the United Nations says is a front for LeT.
After the UN put Saeed and the charity on its terrorism list following the Mumbai rampage, Pakistani authorities detained him, but a higher court later released him on the basis of insufficient evidence.
Pakistani officials say New Delhi has not provided enough evidence to try him.
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi
He was a founding member of Lashkar and, after former president Pervez Musharraf banned the group in 2002, took charge of its base in Pakistani Kashmir.
The lone surviving attacker in Mumbai, Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, described Lakhvi as "mastermind", a dossier provided by India to Pakistan says.
Now in his early 50s, Lakhvi belongs to a religious farming family from eastern Punjab. He fought in the U.S.-backed jihad against Soviet occupation in Afghanistan in 1990s. One of his sons was killed fighting against Indian forces.
Nicknamed "Chacha", or uncle, Lakhvi was arrested in a raid on a Lashkar camp in Pakistani Kashmir in December last year.
Abdul Wajid, alias Zarar Shah
Born in Sheikhupura district of Punjab, he has a knack for computers and communication gadgets. Shah issued emails with fake identities, claiming responsibility for the three-day Mumbai battle with Indian forces on behalf of Deccan Mujahideen, the Indian dossier says.
Shah was in charge of the communications and maps department at Lashkar's camp in Pakistani Kashmir and is described as serious and dedicated.
Mazhar Iqbal alias Abu al-Qama
As Lakhvi's deputy, he was responsible for looking after operations in Indian Kashmir. The slender commander is known for his intelligence and twice crossed into Indian-Kashmir to take part in guerrilla operations.
The others
Little is known of the other suspects, Hammad Amin, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jameel Ahmed and Younus Anjum.
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