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PAKISTAN. CONVICTED SUNNI MILITANT EXECUTED
August 9, 2006: a Sunni extremist convicted of killing a Shia political leader ten years ago was executed in in Pakistan's central Punjab province.
Hafiz Shafiq-ur-Rahman of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group was hanged to death at the Multan central prison early this morning and his body handed over to relatives, jail Superintendent Malik Mubashir Ahmed said.
Shafiq-ur-Rehman was arrested along with two associates in 1997 on charges of killing Shiite leader Syed Ejaz Hussain Shah of the Tehrik Jafria Pakistan party.
An anti-terrorism court handed him death penalty in 1999 and his appeals against the sentence were turned down by the High Court and Supreme Court.
The execution was carried out after President Pervez Musharraf rejected his mercy petition.
A jail official said Shafiq-ur-Rehman declared he was "embracing martyrdom" at the time of execution. (Sources: PTI, 09/08/2006)
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