Islamabad:
Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik told NDTV today that the government will try and send Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh home as soon as possible. Sarabjit has been on a death row in Lahore for the past two decades
"There are legal complications, but the government is working on his release. If it was in my hands, I would send Sarabjit Singh home very soon," Mr Malik told NDTV today.
"I have discussed Sarabjit Singh with the President and will try and give good news soon," Mr Malik added.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari had also assured India yesterday that he will consider the case of the Indian prisoner. External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, who is on a three-day visit to Pakistan said today that Mr Zardari has taken Sarabjit's case 'very seriously'.
"The President has taken it very seriously and he instructed his office to look into the details," Mr Krishna told Indian reporters during an interaction here this evening.
"Our approach is on a humanitarian basis, especially the fact that he has spent almost 20 years in a Pakistani jail," he added.
Sarabjit, who is 49, is currently being held at Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore and has been on death row for over 20 years. He was convicted and sentenced to death for alleged involvement in a string of bombings in Punjab in 1990 that killed 14 people. He has alleged the jail authorities were serving him "unhygienic" food, which was "difficult to eat", and he was being mistreated.
Following his complaints, the High Commission of India here had approached Pakistan's Foreign Ministry seeking special consular access to Sarabjit.
(With inputs from PTI)