Oct 20, 2006, 16:21 GMT
Britain's Prince Charles has succeeded in delaying the execution of a Briton in Pakistan.
Mirza Tahir Hussain was due to be executed on November 1, two days after Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, are scheduled to arrive in Pakistan for their first official tour of the country.
However, President Musharraf has postponed the sentence for two months following pleas for his clemency from Charles and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Hearing news of his brief reprieve, Hussain thanked the Prince of Wales and the British government for intervening.
He said: "I am grateful to His Royal Highness and Tony Blair for showing interest in my plight."
Clarence House have declined to comment on the news and say they will take their lead from the Foreign Office.
Sources quoted in Britain's Daily Mail newspaper have insisted it would be "inconceivable" for the prince not to raise the issue during his week-long trip.
One Islamabad cabinet minister alleges the president is discussing Hussain's case with legal experts and there is a possibility the prisoner could be pardoned.
Hussain, 36, from Leeds, was jailed 18 years ago for the alleged murder of a taxi driver. In 1996, the Pakistani High Court overturned his guilty verdict. However, a week later, a religious Sharia court - which rules according to Islamic law - sentenced him to death again.
Charles and Camilla's official trip was planned to forge closer links between Pakistan and Britain.
(C) BANG Media International
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