NEW DELHI, Nov 9 (Reuters) - An Islamist militant sentenced to death for his role in an attack on India's parliament in 2001 has appealed to the country's president for mercy, a jail official said on Thursday. "The mercy petition addressed to the president is being examined and will be forwarded to the appropriate authority," said the official of New Delhi's high-security Tihar jail where Mohammed Afzal is lodged. A separate mercy plea was filed by last month by Afzal's wife who met President A.P.J Abdul Kalam, along with her young son and Afzal's mother. Afzal was sentenced in September by India's Supreme Court, sparking violent protests in his native Indian Kashmir. The Press Trust of India quoted Afzal as saying in his petition that the support he has received against his death sentence "has truly given me a new hope that I may still live and (be) able to see my son grow up". The parliament attack, in which five gunmen stormed the legislature in December 2001, nearly sparked an India-Pakistan war after New Delhi blamed the raid on Pakistan-based militants. All the gunmen died in the attack as well as 10 others, mostly security men. Afzal was convicted for being part of the conspiracy and for providing the attackers arms and a place to stay. Kashmiri leaders have said the hanging of Afzal would fuel a Muslim separatist revolt against Indian rule in the Himalayan region that has left more than 45,000 people dead since 1989.
