Indians comb Pakistani jails for '71 war missing

Lahore (Pakistan), June 2: Relatives of 54 Indian servicemen missing since the 1971 war with Pakistan began searching Pakistani jails today in the hope of finding their loved ones alive.

''We have received letters and information from some Pakistanis telling us that our relatives are in different jails here,'' said G.S. Gill, one of 14 Indians who arrived in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore yesterday.

They plan to visit 10 jails over the next two weeks, but drew a blank at their first stop -- Lahore's central Kot Lakhpat jail -- today.

''We had photographs with us and we met 59 Indian prisoners, but none of them were prisoners of war,'' said Gill, who is trying to find his brother, Wing Commander H S Gill, who was reported missing in action 36 years ago.

Pakistan suffered a humiliating defeat in the 1971 war, which led to the secession of East Pakistan to form Bangladesh.

Pakistan denies it is still holding any Indian prisoners of war (POWs), but earlier this year President Pervez Musharraf invited Indian families to come and check for themselves.

''As a special humanitarian gesture we have allowed them to come here so that they can visit our prisons,'' Pakistani Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told Reuters.

Since starting a peace process more than three years ago, Pakistan and India have expedited prisoner exchanges, mostly involving fishermen who strayed across maritime boundaries.

Reuters>