PTI

Islamabad, Mar 5: President Pervez Musharraf has rejected the mercy petition of Indian citizen Sarabjit Singh, condemned to death for his alleged involvement in four bomb blasts in Pakistan in 1990.

Sarabjit, who Pakistan claims is Manjit Singh, was sentenced to death for his alleged involvement in the bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan that killed about 14 people. His family denies he was a spy as claimed by Pakistan and insists he accidentally strayed into Pakistani territory.

The mercy appeal filed by Sarabjit was rejected by the President after "thorough consideration", Pakistani news agency NNI reported quoting unnamed sources.

The allegations against Sarabjit "were proved and he was awarded capital punishment by court", the sources said.

The "black warrant" or death warrant for Sarabjit could be issued at "any time", NNI reported.

However, Sarabjit's Lahore-based lawyer Rana Abdul Hamid said he had not been informed officially about the rejection of the mercy petition.

The development came even as Kashmir Singh, another Indian national sentenced to death on charges of spying, was reunited with his family yesterday after Musharraf pardoned him and set him free.

Two years ago, Musharraf had said he would take a decision about Sarabjit after looking into the legal aspects of his case. Sarabjit had sent a mercy petition to Musharraf seeking release on the grounds that he was innocent and wrongly implicated.

Pakistan's Supreme Court also rejected Sarabjit's mercy petition in March 2006.