Five family members spent an hour and a half with Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, who had been providing security on a cargo ship, at a jail in the south Indian state of Kerala where they are being held.

"We found our loved ones doing very well," Massimiliano's sister Franca Latorre told India's NDTV.

"Our thoughts are with the families of the two fishermen," said Salvatore's father, Michele Girone. "We're very sorry, from the bottom of our heart." The case has tested India's relations with Italy, which maintains that it should have jurisdiction over the case because the two men are members of its military and the shooting took place in international waters.

India disagrees and has begun criminal proceedings against the men in Kerala.

An Indian judge was scheduled to deliver a verdict on the question of jurisdiction last week, but the decision has been delayed, Italian military attache Franco Favre said Thursday.

The shooting has stirred passions in both India and Italy, which has launched a massive diplomatic lobbying effort, arguing that the case could set a dangerous precedent for all foreign military personnel serving overseas. So far the effort has yielded little public support from the wider diplomatic community.

"We are trying diplomatically to bring them home," Favre said. He said the two marines are housed separately from the general prison population in good conditions.

He accompanied the families on their visit.

"It was a very touching moment, a special one," he said. "I was surprised at the dignity of these people."