Red Fort death sentence is upheld

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An Indian court has upheld the death sentence given to Ashfaq Arif, a Pakistani man convicted of attacking an army barracks at Delhi's Red Fort.

Six others who had been convicted over the attack were acquitted by the Delhi high court for lack of evidence.

They include Ashfaq Arif's wife, who was sentenced to seven years in jail.

Three people died in the December 2000 attack on the 17th Century fort, one of India's most famous landmarks. The raid strained relations with Pakistan.

Confessions

The trial court convicted Arif, the man found guilty of masterminding the attack, and six others in October 2005.

Indian troops used the fort as a garrison until 2003

He was sentenced to death, while the others received jail terms of varying length.

Ordering the release of the six, who are all Muslims, the Delhi high court said they had been convicted on the basis of confessions which were not admissible as evidence in court, the Press Trust of India reported.

Arif was arrested along with his wife, Rehmana Yousuf Farooqui, four days after the raid and found guilty of murder, criminal conspiracy and waging war against India.

She was found guilty of harbouring an offender, but cleared of other more serious charges.

The authorities say two militants entered the Red Fort, then being used as an army garrison, on the night of 22 December, 2000.

The gunmen attacked an army supply depot, killing two soldiers and a guard, before escaping.

Islamic militant group, Lashkar-e-Toiba, said it carried out the attack, which strained relations between India and Pakistan.

The Red Fort was the seat of Mughal rule until 1857, when India began to be governed by the British.

Indian troops left the fort in December 2003, after which it was handed over to the tourism ministry.