Mohammed Ajmal Amir Qasab was captured in a chilling photograph and now he has confessed his role in the Mumbai terrorist attacks, but he remains a 'gunman', rather than a 'terrorist', for the New York Times and other leading American newspapers. And with a reason.

After his surprising and dramatic confession before a special court in Mumbai on Monday, Qasab is hogging headlines in the American media that is revisiting the semantic-ethical issue of which attacker qualifies as terrorist.