Pakistan's Supreme Court adjourned an appeal hearing on Monday to decide whether to re-arrest the founder of a militant group said to have been behind the attacks on Mumbai last November.

Hafiz Saeed, who headed Lashkar-e-Taiba before moving to its charity front, was detained after the Mumbai attacks after a U.N. Security Council resolution put him on a list of people and organizations supporting al Qaeda.

The Lahore High Court, to India's frustration, freed Saeed in June due to a lack of evidence against him. Pakistan has appealed against Saeed's release, but ministers have said India should furnish better evidence against him.

On Saturday, India gave Pakistan a new dossier of evidence to investigate the Mumbai attacks and to prosecute Saeed.

I think whatever we have provided, according to our assessment, I think that is evidence enough to punish them and Saeed is one of those who is the main brains behind the attack, Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna said in New Delhi on Monday.

Peace talks between the nuclear armed rivals were suspended after the Mumbai attacks, but last month they agreed to restart dialogue, without resuming the peace process.

India wants Pakistan to punish those responsible for the deaths of 166 people in Mumbai and dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani told parliament on Monday that his government was committed to fighting terrorism, and he reiterated Pakistan's stance that resolving issues such as Kashmir was important for regional stability.

Gilani added that Pakistan, India and Afghanistan should all prevent terrorists from using their territory to launch attacks against other countries. Pakistan has long accused India of fueling an insurgency in its southwestern Baluchistan province through India's missions in Afghanistan.

It's important to strictly adhere to the principles of non-intervention and non-interference, Gilani said.

SAEED WILL CONTINUE AS FREE MAN

In addition to wanting progress on the Saeed case, India is also waiting for Pakistan to start in earnest the trial of five militants held at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi for their alleged role in the Mumbai plot.

Charges have still to be read against the suspects, and the next hearing has been put off until August 29.

Saeed's lawyer, A.K. Dogar, said the court adjourned the hearing without fixing a new date because the government's prosecutor was not prepared for the case.

The attorney general appeared before the court and said the previous government lawyer has resigned and he has all the records with, him so we're not in a position to argue the case, Dogar told reporters after the hearing.

Saeed will continue as a free man. He can move about and do whatever he likes, he said.

Saeed quit Lashkar in the days following the militant group's attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001, but stayed as head of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), a charity that has been placed on both U.N. and U.S. lists of terrorist organizations.

Lashkar was founded in 1989 to fight Indian rule in Kashmir, the flashpoint for more than 60 years of rivalry between India and Pakistan.

Security analysts say the group was a favored tool of Pakistani intelligence, though those ties appeared to weaken after India and Pakistan embarked on a peace process in 2004.

(Additional reporting by Jason Subler; Editing by Dominic Evans)

Pakistan Afghanistan Terrorism India