A day after Pakistan clarified to the media that it was Surjeet Singh and not Sarabjit Singh it was releasing from prison,External Affairs Minister S M Krishna renewed New Delhis request for Sarabjits freedom. Till Wednesday evening,however,New Delhi had not heard officially from Islamabad on the identity of the man who is about to be freed. The Indian High Commission in Islamabad had no information,officials said. Krishna said in Delhi,I am awaiting a report from our mission in Islamabad. Asked if he believed that the Pakistan Army was behind the apparent u-turn by the civilian government,he said,I cant speculate on the whys and hows. Krishna had yesterday thanked President Asif Ali Zardari following reports that Sarabjit,49,was to be released these reports ultimately turned out to be untrue. Today,Krishna said,I have seen media reports about the impending release from imprisonment in Pakistan of Surjeet Singh. I welcome this decision and further renew our request to the President of Pakistan to release Sarabjit Singh who has been in custody for over two decades. The minister said India had asked Pakistan on several occasions to take a sympathetic and humanitarian view of the case,and appealed to Islamabad to release all Indian nationals who have completed their prison terms. We can understand the agony of his (Sarabjits) family. We have always taken up his issue with the urgency attached to it, he said. Celebrations at Sarabjits home in Jalandhar turned to ashes late last night after Zardaris spokesman Farhatullah Babar issued a dramatic clarification that there had been some confusion,and that it was Surjeet,not Sarabjit,who was being released.
