Sarabjit's sister hopes for his release from Pakistani jail

The sister of Indian national Sarabjit Singh, sentenced to death in Pakistan for alleged involvement in bomb blasts in Punjab province, is hopeful that her brother would be released soon.

Dalbir Kaur, who met Sarabjit in Kot Lakhpat jail yesterday, said she would appeal to the Pakistan government for his release.

"I will also try to meet Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik. He may try to arrange my meeting with the top leadership including President Asif Ali Zardari," she had said before crossing over to Pakistan via the Wahga land border.

The Indian and Pakistani governments should release prisoners languishing in their jails as such a move would further improve relations between the two countries, she said.

Kaur and other members of Sarabjit's family had last visited Pakistan in 2008 to meet him.

Sarabjit has been on death row since he was convicted for alleged involvement in four bomb blasts in 1990 that killed 14 people. His family insists that he was wrongly convicted for the bombings.

Though he was set to be hanged in 2008, Pakistani authorities put off his execution indefinitely after Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani intervened in the matter.