NEW DELHI, Jan 12: India's top court on Friday rejected the final plea of a Kashmiri man sentenced to death for helping to launch the deadly attack on the nation's parliament in 2001.

Mohammed Afzal, an Indian national, had filed a petition before the Supreme Court on the grounds he had been denied satisfactory legal representation during his trial.

His only hope now lies in a mercy petition pending before the country's president. Under Indian law, the sentence will not be carried out until the president rejects the appeal.

Five men stormed the heavily-guarded parliament complex on Dec 13, 2001, but were killed by guards before they could enter the building where lawmakers sit. Ten other people, mostly security men, were also killed in the exchange of fire. Afzal was convicted of helping organise arms for the parliament raiders.—Reuters