Foreign office says considering clemency plea from New Delhi

Lahore: The government said yesterday it was actively considering a plea for clemency for an Indian man condemned to death for spying, as his family met him for the first time in 18 years in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail.

President Pervez Musharraf had last month rejected a mercy plea from Sarabjit Singh but deferred his execution until April 30 after a request from New Delhi.

"The issue is under active consideration," Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told a weekly news conference.

"We have received a request from the Indian government and a decision will be taken in due course," he added.

Joy and sorrow

The comments came as members of Singh's family, including his wife, two daughters and a sister, visited him in prison.

"We never thought that we would be able to see him after 18 years and in such a situation. It saddened us but at the same time it was a moment of joy for us," Dalbir Kaur, Singh's sister later told reporters.

Singh was sentenced to death in 1991 for spying and orchestrating four bomb blasts that killed 14 people, but his family said he was innocent and had crossed the border into Pakistan accidentally in 1990 while under the influence of alcohol.

"I can assure you my brother had nothing to do with it. We have no links with terrorism," Kaur said when asked about the bombs.

Officials say Singh was arrested while trying to slip back into India after the bomb blasts.

Another Indian prisoner on death row was freed in March after nearly 35 years in jail.