Re: Detained Indian fishermen
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Wed Mar 2, 1:39 AM ET
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan is likely to release more than 900 Indian fishermen and civilians held for illegal entry in a goodwill gesture to boost the peace process between the nuclear rivals, officials said.President Pervez Musharraf has recommended that 800 Indian fishermen held in Pakistani jails for crossing into its waters should be freed after completing legal formalities, foreign ministry spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani told AFP on Wednesday.
Musharraf has also ordered the release of 31 Indian Sikhs after an appeal by visiting communist leaders from the neighbouring South Asian country, Jilani said. In addition to the Sikhs and the fishermen, another 118 detained Indian civilians are to be released "on humanitarian grounds" once the Indian government confirms their nationalities and travel documents, Jilani added. "Pakistan has decided not to keep those Indian nationals who have completed their prison terms here and prolong their misery. They should be released on humanitarian grounds," Jilani said.
One sore point between India and Pakistan has been the frequent detention of each other's fishermen for allegedly straying into their rivals waters in the Arabian Sea.On Sunday Pakistani coastguards arrested 101 Indian mariners. However in January Pakistan freed 266 Indian fishermen and both countries have made other mass releases in the past.