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Taped 'confession' played to court
Javed Iqbal being taken to court
By Shahid Malik in Lahore
A journalist from the newspaper which published a "confession" from the alleged serial killer, Javed Iqbal, has been giving evidence at his trial.
Mr Iqbal, who is accused of killing nearly 100 children in the Pakistani city of Lahore, gave himself up to the police in the Daily Jang office more than two months ago.
Audio and video recordings of an interview given in the newspaper office just before his arrest were played in the courtroom.
A journalist from the newspaper which published a "confession" from the alleged serial killer, Javed Iqbal, has been giving evidence at his trial.
Mr Iqbal, who is accused of killing nearly 100 children in the Pakistani city of Lahore, gave himself up to the police in the Daily Jang office more than two months ago.
Audio and video recordings of an interview given in the newspaper office just before his arrest were played in the courtroom.
 Police found children's clothes in drains at Iqbal's house
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The video recording was played half a dozen times to hear what is supposed to be an extra-judicial confession.
Missing recordings
The newspaper's crimes editor, Jamil Chishti, was in the witness box for almost four hours, answering questions mainly about a lack of continuity in the recording.
He conceded that out of a total of some 45 minutes of footage, only about two minutes had been handed over to the police.
The remaining bits, which he said were being kept by the newspaper owner, may be used to make a television documentary.
During Thursday's proceedings another parent of a missing child and a hand writing expert also gave evidence.
The trial judge, Allah Bukhsh Ranjha, confirmed that Iqbal's defence lawyer, Najeeb Faisal, had agreed to continue with the case for the time being.
On Wednesday, the defence lawyer had threatened to withdraw from the trial.
In a written application to the court on Thursday, he complained about an anonymous telephone call, in which he was warned of the consequences of his job.
Mr Faisal has said that lapses in the police handling of the case were a source of embarrassment to the government.
Missing recordings
The newspaper's crimes editor, Jamil Chishti, was in the witness box for almost four hours, answering questions mainly about a lack of continuity in the recording.
He conceded that out of a total of some 45 minutes of footage, only about two minutes had been handed over to the police.
The remaining bits, which he said were being kept by the newspaper owner, may be used to make a television documentary.
During Thursday's proceedings another parent of a missing child and a hand writing expert also gave evidence.
The trial judge, Allah Bukhsh Ranjha, confirmed that Iqbal's defence lawyer, Najeeb Faisal, had agreed to continue with the case for the time being.
On Wednesday, the defence lawyer had threatened to withdraw from the trial.
In a written application to the court on Thursday, he complained about an anonymous telephone call, in which he was warned of the consequences of his job.
Mr Faisal has said that lapses in the police handling of the case were a source of embarrassment to the government.
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