SRINAGAR, India, Nov 11 (Reuters) - A suspected Muslim rebel said on Saturday he was paid $20 to throw a grenade during Friday prayers in Indian Kashmir that killed five people including four children. Police said Ghulam Nabi Mir belonged to Hizbul Mujahideen, a rebel group which is fighting for Kashmir's merger with neighbouring Pakistan. It has denied involvement in the attack and said Indian security agencies were behind it. "I threw it. They gave me 1,000 rupees ($20)," Mir, who looked to be in his late 20s, told reporters in the presence of police. "Forgive my mistake. I wouldn't make such a mistake again." Mir was captured by villagers immediately after the attack in the Tahab area of Pulwama district south of Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital, and handed over to police. Top officials of India and Pakistan meet on Nov. 14 and 15 for talks over a slow-moving peace process launched in 2004. The South Asian rivals have fought two wars over Kashmir and claim the region in full. On Saturday, a soldier and a pedestrian were wounded when Muslim guerrillas attacked an army convoy with grenades and automatic weapons, police said. A Pakistan-based rebel group, Lashkar-e-Tiaba, claimed responsibility for the attack which took place in the Qazigund area of south Kashmir. Authorities say violence involving militants and Indian security forces has declined in the Himalayan region where a revolt against Indian rule has killed more than 45,000 people since 1989. The region's political separatists put the toll at twice as high.
