Court reissues death warrant for Pakistani convict

Islamabad, March 24: A Pakistan court on Tuesday reissued death warrants for former Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) worker Saulat Mirza confirming his execution on April 1. Mirza was sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in May 1999 for the July 1997 murder of former chief of Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) Shahid Hamid, his driver Ashraf Brohi and guard Khan Akbar, Dawn online reported. He was moved along with four high-profile prisoners to the Machh jail in Balochistan, in April 2014. Last week, Mirza’s execution was postponed for 72 hours. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar had said the target killer’s execution was stayed as “he is not well enough to be executed”. Mirza was scheduled to be executed on March 19, but his hanging was postponed following a presidential order. (IANS)