M A I N   N E W S

Pak orders combing of prisons for PoWs

Islamabad, July 17
The Pakistan Government has ordered the “combing” of all prisons in the country to find Indian Prisoners of War (PoWs) languishing there, soon after President Pervez Musharraf promised to look into the issue, media reports quoting official sources said today.

“We have already checked twice with all the jails but found no clue of any Indian PoW as claimed by the Indian authorities,” an Interior Ministry official said.

It is difficult for Pakistan to keep prisoners of war so long as it was bound by the Geneva Convention, he was quoted as saying by the daily ‘Dawn’.

The Indian Government has stated that there could be around 54 Indian PoWs still lodged in Pakistani jails.

Pakistan has refuted it on several occasions, but the issue was raised again during Musharraf’s breakfast meeting with senior editors in Agra yesterday.

In response, General Musharraf promised to personally look into the matter.

“I am a soldier. I would be the first man to release Prisoners of War. But still this issue is being raised again... so I will certainly personally look into it,” he said.

Prior to Musharraf’s arrival, relatives and families of the missing Prisoners of War had staged rallies in front of the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi demanding their release. PTI