Sometimes breaking into laughter, the man accused of being the lone surviving gunman in last year's Mumbai attacks told an Indian court yesterday that he was from Pakistan and wanted legal assistance, officials said.

The trial of Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, whom police formally charged in February with "waging war" against India, began yesterday via a video link with his prison in Mumbai. Gunmen killed 166 people in a three-day rampage in the city last November.

A bearded Kasab smiled and looked composed when the judge asked him whether he had received a copy of the charges and if he wanted an attorney, a government lawyer said.