While Sardar Latif Khosa and other officials said the prosecution process was on track, defense lawyers complained they had not been given documents about the case or details of the evidence against the suspects, whom they have yet to meet. India, the United States and other Western countries are closely watching Pakistan's efforts to punish the militant suspects, accused of planning and helping the Nov. 26-28 attacks that also wounded scores and terrorized India's financial center. In the past, Islamabad has failed to punish militants suspected of attacks on targets in its giant eastern neighbor, with which it has fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947. Pakistan's intelligence agencies are known to have funded and trained Islamist militants to use as proxies against the much larger Indian army in the disputed region of Kashmir. The government says it no longer does this, but many Pakistanis remain sympathetic to the militants' aims.

The nuclear-armed countries moved troops toward their joint border in the aftermath of the attacks, chilling ties. The prime ministers of both nations are due to meet later this month on the sidelines of an international summit in Egypt for the first time since the attacks. "It is very important the Pakistan government move further and faster to prosecute those who were associated with (the Mumbai) attacks and punish them," visiting British Foreign Minister David Miliband said Wednesday, adding that ties between the two nations would remain difficult until this was done. Indian security agencies killed nine of the Mumbai attackers and arrested a lone survivor, Ajmal Kasab, whom they said belonged to the Pakistani militant outfit, Lashkar-e-Taiba. He told investigators the militants were trained on Pakistani soil and the attack was planned there.

Pakistan was reluctant to accept the claims, but acknowledged in February that Kasab was a Pakistani. The same month, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik announced the arrests of six men linked to Kasab and pledged to put them on trial. Attorney General Sardar Latif Khosa said late Wednesday the trials will start "soon," but was unable to say when. "There are no reasons (for a delay) other than the fulfillment of some legal requirements and resolution of technical issues before the start of the trials," Khosa said.

Officials said the men will be tried behind closed doors in the maximum security prison where they are currently being held in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

India has handed over evidence, including recordings of calls the attackers allegedly made to Pakistan during the siege. Two of the defendants, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarrar Shah, have been publicly accused by India of masterminding the attacks. Malik has said they will be charged with "abetting, conspiracy and facilitation" of a terrorist act.

The men have been appointed lawyers, but they have yet to start preparing their defense. "I have applied to get the copy of the charges submitted by the police, but am still awaiting," said Shahzad Rajput, who is representing one of the men. "In fact, there is no evidence against my client. That is why the government is not showing any enthusiasm in this matter. I would say it is using delaying tactics." India is pressing ahead with its trial of Kasab, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, which includes waging war against the country and murder. Kasab, said to be in his early 20s, will face the death penalty if convicted. Lashkar-e-Taiba was formed in the 1980s with the blessing of Pakistan's intelligence services, and the group has a long and bloody history of guerrilla warfare and bombings aimed at Indian rule in Kashmir, which is claimed by both Pakistan and India.

Pakistan banned Lashkar in 2002 during a crackdown on militant groups that followed the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, under pressure from Washington, which considers it a terrorist group. It changed its name to Jamaat-ud-Dawa and concentrated on charity work, but the United Nations and U.S. consider it a front group for Lashkar.