Pakistan’s prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has sacked his top national security adviser for confirming media reports that Ajmal Kasab, the sole surviving militant from the Mumbai terror attacks, was a Pakistani national.

Major General (rtd) Mehmood Durrani, the former ambassador to the US, was sacked soon after Pakistani media, citing unnamed Pakistani officials, broke the news. Mr Durrani subsequently confirmed that the comments, made to a TV channel, had been made and were true.