Pakistan court adjourns Mumbai attacks hearing

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A Pakistani court adjourned until October 3 a hearing for seven Islamist militants suspected of involvement in last year's attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people, a lawyer said.

The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan are due to meet in New York on Sunday, but India has said formal peace process talks will only be resumed after Pakistan takes decisive action against perpetrators of the assault on its financial capital.

Pakistan has acknowledged that the coordinated attacks were plotted and partly launched from its soil and is prosecuting seven suspects in a hearing behind closed doors.

"The judge was on leave and now the hearing will be held on October 3," Shahbaz Rajput, lawyer of one of the suspects told Reuters.

India also wants Pakistan to prosecute Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, founder of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, who India says masterminded the Mumbai assault.

Pakistan and India have held three bilateral meetings on the sidelines of international gatherings since June but New Delhi insists that Pakistan take forceful action against Saeed and other suspects before it resumes formal talks under the peace process launched in 2004.

(For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: here)

(Reporting by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)