Ramadan delays Briton's execution [View All]

[Behind the Aegis]

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- The execution of a British national on death row for murder in Pakistan has been delayed because of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, a prison official said Sunday.

Mirza Tahir Hussain, 36, who has been convicted of murdering taxi driver Jamshed Khan in 1988, is being held in a prison in Rawalpindi, a city near the capital Islamabad.

Hussain was scheduled to be executed on Sunday, Oct. 1, but the execution has been postponed because of Ramadan, a jail official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Under Pakistani prison rules, executions of death row inmates are not carried out during Ramadan or on public holidays, the official said.

more...