A Pakistani who is the lone surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks will be sentenced Thursday, the judge in his case said yesterday amid prosecution calls for the "killing machine" to be executed.

Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab's trial in a special prison court in Mumbai heard arguments from the defence and prosecution yesterday over the appropriate penalty and the judge adjourned until Thursday to consider his decision.

Public prosecutor Ujj wal Nikam maintained his vigorous advocacy for the ultimate penalty to be imposed on Kasab, convicted of murder and waging war against India on Monday — crimes punishable by hanging.

"It would be a mockery of justice if the death penalty is not imposed," Nikam told the court. "He is an agent of the devil himself, a disgrace to society and the entire human race. ”

Speaking after the adjournment, he told reporters that the former labourer and school dropout was "a killing machine and the factory for the killing machine was in Pakistan."

India believes the atrocity was plotted and executed by the Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and elements in the Pakistani military and a number of suspects were convicted in absentia on Monday.

Kasab took part in the bloodiest episode of the November 2008 assault which left 166 people dead and more than 300 wounded and led India to suspend peace talks with neighbouring Pakistan.

Dressed again in a long white shirt from his native state of Punjab, he sat with his head bowed but showed little reaction as the court

discussed his sentence yesterday.

Ten gunmen attacked three luxury hotels, the railway station, a popular tourist restaurant and a Jewish centre during a 60-hour siege of the city that began on November 26, 20008.

The trial, which first opened in April last year, has been keenly-watched given the psychological impact of the attacks, which are often compared in India to the September 11, 2001 assault onNewYork and Washington.

Many Indians, including the families of some of the victims, have long called for Kasab's execution and the clamour grew stronger after his conviction.

"Butcher of Mumbai Guilty" screamed the front page of the Mail Today tabloid, with the news of Kasab's conviction that has dominated media coverage and public debate of the last few days.

"Kasab should be hanged and we should show him no mercy," said Smita Salaskar, the widow of Vijay Salaskar, a police marksman killed as Kasab and an accomplice fled the railway station, scene of the deadliest assault.

However, the imposition of the death penalty could trigger a lengthy and potentially open-ended appeal, observers say.

India has not carried out an execution since 2004 and only two since 1998.

In reaction to the conviction on Monday, defence analyst K. Subrahmanyam echoed a popular sentiment in India that the country had acted maturely and demonstrated its respect for the rule of law by putting Kasab on trial.

"The public trial and provision of legal defence for Kasab enhanced the reputation and credibility of the Indian judicial system," he wrote in The Express newspaper.