Pakistan court rejects Sarabjit's death verdict appeal

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's Supreme Court dismissed on Wednesday an appeal by Sarabjit Singh, an Indian man seeking a review of a death sentence imposed on him 18 years ago for spying and carrying out bombings.

The rejection came as relations between old rivals India and Pakistan inched towards improvement following a meeting last week between their leaders, the first since last year's militant attack on Mumbai in which 166 people were killed.

Singh was sentenced to death in 1991 for spying and bombings that killed 14 people. His family said he was innocent and had crossed the border into Pakistan accidentally in 1990 while he was drunk.

Pakistani officials said Singh was arrested while trying to slip back into India after the bomb blasts.

The government suspended his death sentence in May last year after his family visited Pakistan and appealed for a pardon.

But a three-member bench upheld the sentence, saying they had found no reason to reconsider the original ruling.

"There was nothing in the records of the case that could become a basis for reviewing the previous judgment. That's why it has been dismissed," Justice Raja Fayyaz told the court.

India's Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna said his government was not aware of the details of the judgement.

"Sarabjit Singh's case has touched the sentiments of many people in India who have been following this case," Krishna said. "We have consistently urged the government of Pakistan to take a sympathetic and humanitarian view in this case. It is our hope that they will find it possible to do so."