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VANCOUVER, Friday (AFP) The trial of two men suspected in a 1985 Air India bombing resumed Thursday as a man testifed that a defendant had once asked him to become a "martyr" by carrying a suitcase on a flight to India.

The trial of the world's worst terrorist incident before September 11, 2001 had been adjourned for weeks in this West Coast city.

On June 23, 1985, explosives in a suitcase downed Air India Flight 182 near the coast of Ireland, killing 329.

Defendants Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, both fundamentalist Sikhs, listened to the testimony of the man whose identity was kept secret by a court order.

He said that months before the bomb in a suitcase downed the Air India jetliner, a local Sikh was asked to become a "martyr" by carrying luggage to India.

But defence lawyers at attacked the man's credibility in cross-examination. The man admitted to having extensive financial links to one of the accused, Malik. He also said that he was suing Malik and that he threatened to publicly insult him.

Prosecutors contend that Malik had asked the man to carry a suitcase that would have contained a bomb. They also allege that Bagri and Malik were part of a group that conspired to place the bombs on flights originating here.

The alleged motive was revenge against the India government, which was cracking down on a radical Sikh movement. At nearly the same time, another bomb exploded while being transferred to another Air India plane at Japan's Narita airport. Two Japanese baggage handlers died, bringing the day's death toll to 331.

The trial resumed Thursday after weeks of wrangling over how Malik would pay his 11-member team of lawyers. A financing agreement is nearly complete, his lawyers told a judge.

Prosecutors launched Thursday the crucial "conspiracy" part of their case. It will involve a series of witnesses who are expected to suggest the pair's involvement with the bombings.

The man testifying Thursday was the first of several witnesses who may not be named or even described under a court order. Several of them are under police protection.

The man told the court Malik promised other Sikhs would care for his wife and children if he did not return from taking the suitcase to India and that he would become a "Sikh martyr."

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Two soldiers killed in attack near Kashmir chief minister's house

SRINAGAR, India, Friday (AFP) Two soldiers of the Border Security Force were killed and an officer injured in a militant attack near the home of Indian Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed Friday, a BSF spokesman said.

Spokesman Neeraj, who uses only one name, said the injured officer had been moved to hospital.

Two huge explosions were heard Friday near Sayeed's residence in downtown Srinagar followed by a burst of gunfire, police and witnesses said.

Sayeed was not in his home at the time of the blast, the state information department said, having left at 7:00 am for an official function in Lucknow, Central India.

However, his daughter Mehbooba Mufti, who is president of the ruling People's Democratic Party, was at home.

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