Pakistani leader spares Briton's life

Mirza Tahir Hussain will now serve a life sentence after the Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf, ordered that he be spared death penalty, government officials said.

Hussain may be eligible for release on parole because he has already spent 18 years in prison.

The decision came weeks after the Prince of Wales raised the 36-year-old Briton's plight with General Musharraf during a visit to Pakistan.

Tony Blair, who is due to visit Pakistan on Saturday, has also expressed concern about the case.
Several human rights organisations have appealed to Gen Musharraf to pardon Hussain, whose execution has been postponed repeatedly, most recently from November 1 until New Year's Eve.

Amjad Hussain, who has campaigned for his brother's release, said the family was "overjoyed" that their 18-year "nightmare" appeared to be drawing to a close.

"I have this morning received a phone call from the Pakistani high commission, who confirmed the decision of Gen Musharraf to commute the death sentence," he said at his home in Leeds.

"The family are overjoyed that, at last, the death sentence has been lifted. At last the 18 years of nightmare appears to be coming to an end."

He said he was very grateful to Gen Musharraf and all who had helped, including the prince, Mr Blair, the foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, MPs and other groups.

Mrs Beckett, arriving in Downing Street for the weekly cabinet meeting today, said she was very pleased to hear the news.

In a brief statement, Clarence House said: "The Prince of Wales is very pleased with the president's decision."

Catherine Wolthuizen, the chief executive of Fair Trials Abroad, said she was "delighted" with the announcement. "He's already served the equivalent of at least one or two life sentences, and I very much hope this could see him returned home very soon," she said.

"He was the victim of a grave miscarriage of justice which has been recognised by the Pakistan government."

Ms Wolthuizen said her organisation had been working closely with Hussain's family and campaigning with other organisations to secure his release.

A Foreign Office spokesman said the British government had not been officially notified of the decision, but was encouraged by the reports.

"We welcome reports from the government of Pakistan that Mr Hussain's sentence has been commuted to life on humanitarian grounds," the spokesman said. "We have not yet been officially notified of the decision."

Hussain was convicted of murdering Jamshed Khan in 1988, and has been in a prison near the capital, Islamabad, ever since. He was to be hanged after December 31, when a stay of execution granted by the president ended.

The former Territorial Army soldier was 18 when he left West Yorkshire to visit relatives in Pakistan. Three days after flying out from Heathrow, he caught a train from his aunt's home in Karachi to Rawalpindi, where he took a taxi to see his family in the village of Bhubar.

Later that night, he led police to the body of the driver, who had been shot dead. He told them the driver had tried to sexually assault him and had pulled a gun, saying the weapon had gone off during a struggle and killed the driver.

His murder conviction was quashed by the high court in Pakistan, but he was then retried under religious laws in an Islamic court and sentenced to death by a two to one majority.

The chairman of the European parliament's Friends of Pakistan Group, Sajjad Karim, who led a delegation of MEPs to lobby Gen Musharraf earlier this year, said he was hopeful the Briton would be home soon.

The MEP told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that, according to a Pakistani senator who has taken an interest in the case, a life sentence in the country generally results in around 14 years in jail, with time off for good behaviour.

"Mirza Hussain has done in excess of 18 years in custody," Mr Karim said. "Therefore, the next step we will be pushing for is an immediate release. Hopefully, Mirza will be returning back home to Leeds very, very soon."

Mr Karim told Sky News that he believed the prince's efforts to prevent the death sentence from being carried out had had a "very positive effect".

Last month, Hussain's family said they hoped his suffering could finally be brought to a close. Amjad Hussain described the case as "a serious miscarriage of justice".

The issue of securing the Briton's release was highly sensitive because critics have branded Gen Musharraf a western puppet. The president has never commuted a death penalty decision made in the Sharia court before.

The focus in government circles over the past few weeks was said to have been on trying to find a legal way for Gen Musharraf to grant clemency.

The MEP Edward McMillan-Scott, who campaigned for Hussain's release, said the president had made a number of "private assurances" to him when the pair met in Brussels last month.

Mr McMillan-Scott, who represents Yorkshire and the Humber, said he planned to travel to Pakistan on December 15 to try to ensure Hussain was home for Christmas.

"I am delighted with the news," he said. "It reflects promises made by Musharraf to myself during his visit to Brussels last month.

"I have been working with the family to secure Hussain's release, and was planning a last minute plea next month which will now become a plea for his return to Leeds for Christmas."

He added that the Foreign Office had been "very effective" with behind the scenes manoeuvring, and that the help of Prince Charles had been "invaluable".