May 24, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 18, 1429

KARACHI, May 23: Prison authorities on Friday released 97 Indian fishermen as a goodwill gesture, a few days after peace talks between India and Pakistan, officials said.

The released fishermen have been sent from Karachi to Lahore where they would be handed over to the Indian authorities on Saturday, Yameen Khan, inspector-general prisons of Sindh, told AFP.

“We have released them as a goodwill gesture,” Khan said.

He said the authorities would also release three more prisoners from Lahore and a total of 100 Indian prisoners would be handed over to the Indian authorities on Saturday.

He said out of a total of 473 Indian prisoners in Sindh province, 97 had been released. “We have still 376 Indian prisoners in our custody. All of them are fishermen and no one involved in any criminal activities,” Khan said.

The two South Asian countries frequently seize each other’s fishermen, accusing them of violating their respective zones in the Arabian Sea, before swapping hundreds of them in exchanges.Authorities here estimate more than 100 Pakistani fishermen are languishing in Indian jails.

Pakistan and India this week signed a pact to grant consular access to prisoners in each other’s jails, the latest step in a continuing four-year peace process.—AFP