Inderjit Singh Reyat, one of the three suspects charged in the 1985 bombing of the Air India jetliner Kanishka, in which 329 people were killed, pleaded guilty on Monday.

In a previously unscheduled court appearance in Vancouver, British Columbia, Reyat pleaded guilty for 329 counts of manslaughter, Canada's public broadcaster CBC said.

He was originally charged with 329 counts of first-degree murder, it said.

Two others who have been charged in connection with the case are Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri. They have been in custody since October 2000.

Reyat also pleaded guilty to helping make the bomb that was planted in Kanishka, CBC reported.

Reyat's plea has raised speculation that he would testify against Malik and Bagri.

Reyat has already served 10 years in a British prison for his role in a blast at Tokyo's Narita Airport, which occurred an hour before A-I Flight 182 went down.

Prosecutor Robert Wright recommendation of a five-year sentence for Reyat was accepted by Chief Justice Donald Brenner.

Wright noted that Reyat had been in custody since February 1988, when he was first arrested in the Narita airport bombing.

Brenner agreed with a statement of facts in the case that Reyat was guilty of aiding and abetting in the making of the
bomb.

"There's no evidence Reyat intended to kill anybody, nor is there any evidence he had any knowledge the bomb would be placed on Flight 182," he said.

Reyat's lawyer David Gibbons said his client had no intention of testifying but could be subpoenaed while adding that Reyat was sorry for his role in the bombing.

"He (Reyat) thinks about it every day....Remorse is not a word large enough to get near what he feels for their (the
families of victims) sorrow," Gibbons said.

With inputs from the Press Trust of India