Nawaz halts execution of death sentences

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has ordered an immediate halt to the carrying out of death penalty in the country, a government spokesman has confirmed.

The spokesman told The News that reports aired on some TV channels that President Zardari had stopped the implementation of the death sentence on some condemned prisoners were incorrect.

The spokesman said that the president of Pakistan had sent a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that he wanted to meet the PM to discuss the issue of the long-pending death sentence on hundreds of convicted prisoners.

The spokesman said that as the date of executions was approaching and the president was out of the country, the prime minister had directed the Interior Ministry to hold everything regarding the execution of death sentences till the conclusion of the meeting between the prime minister and the head of state.