Pak defers hanging of Sarabjit by 1 month

New Delhi, Mar 19: The execution of the death sentence to Sarabjit Singh has been postponed to April 30, a leading daily quoted official sources as saying.

Sarabjit, an Indian national convicted for involvement in multiple bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan in 1991, was to be hanged on April 1, The News reported. In March 2006, the Supreme Court of Pakistan rejected Sarabjit's plea for clemency. President Pervez Musharraf rejected the mercy petition of Sarabjit on March 3 this year. ''He would be hanged on the exact date (April 1) and there would be no delay in his hanging,'' Interior Ministry Spokesman Brig Javed Iqbal Cheema told a weekly media briefing yesterday.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal that India has taken up the issue of Sarabjit Singh with Pakistan at the highest levels and New Delhi was making all possible efforts to seek a reprieve for the condemned prisoner.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee in a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha appealed to Pakistan from the floor of the House, seeking ''clemency on humanitarian grounds'' for the Indian national.

Pakistan has confirmed that the Indian government had sought clemency for Sarabjit.

UNI