India under pressure to save alleged spy

Pressure is mounting on the Indian government to save an Indian man sentenced to death in Pakistan for spying, with his family members threatening to commit suicide and several lawmakers urging the prime minister to intervene.

The death sentence against Sarabjit Singh, who has been held in a Pakistani jail for the past 15 years, was upheld last week by Pakistan's Supreme Court. Singh was convicted of spying and involvement in a string of bomb blasts in Pakistani cities.

But his family denies he was a spy, and insists he had strayed accidentally into Pakistani territory in August 1990 while farming his land, which lies near the border. Singh's wife and two daughters have threatened to commit suicide unless his life is spared.

High-level talks

On Tuesday, a group of lawmakers and politicians from Singh's native Punjab state met with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and urged him to take up the matter with Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf.

"The prime minister assured us that he would speak to President Musharraf on the issue," said Shamsher Singh Dullo, Punjab state president of the ruling Congress party.

Relatives of the condemned man also met the Indian foreign minister.

"I have been assured the government will help," said Dalbir Kaur, Singh's sister.

Kaur said she planned to meet the prime minister and the Pakistani ambassador later on Tuesday.

The prime minister's office had no immediate comment. But Sriprakash Jaiswal, India's junior home minister, said, "The government will provide all possible help in accordance with the law and diplomatic protocol."

`Confessed'

In Islamabad, a Pakistani official insisted Singh had been treated properly.

"Due process of law has been completed," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Naeem Khan. Singh "has confessed to carrying out bombings in Lahore, Kasur and Faisalabad," he said, listing cities in eastern Pakistan.

But he noted that Singh can appeal to Musharraf to spare his life.

"I will personally try to bring it to the notice of President Musharraf that this case has come up," Pakistan Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri told New Delhi Television in an interview from the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

Kasuri said that Singh was in good health in a prison in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore.

Indian diplomats have asked for permission to see Singh, officials said in both countries. Khan said they are likely to get permission to visit him.

For years, longtime rivals India and Pakistan regularly accused people who strayed across the border of espionage. Dozens of people remain in jails in both countries, though both have freed several prisoners in recent months as part of an improvement in relations.

Kaur said the family was informed of the verdict by Islamabad-based attorney Rana Abdul Hamid, who represented Singh in court.

Review request

Hamid told them on Friday that he would seek a review of the court decision, the Press Trust of India news agency quoted Kaur as saying.

No date has been set for Singh's hanging in Pakistan.