Pakistan: Militants face execution

Six militants have been hanged since Friday amid rising public anger over Tuesday's massacre in the northwestern city of Peshawar, which left a total of 149 people dead.

After the deadliest terror attack in Pakistani history Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has ended a six-year moratorium on the death penalty, reinstating it exclusively for cases that concern terrorism.

"The Interior Ministry has finalized the cases of 500 convicts who have exhausted all the appeals, their mercy petitions have been turned down by the president and their executions will take place in coming weeks," a senior government official said.

Of the six hanged so far, five were involved in a foiled attempt to assassinate former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in 2003. The other was involved in a 2009 attack on an army headquarters.

"The prime minister has also issued directions for appropriate measures for early disposal of pending cases related to terrorism," the spokesman said without specifically confirming the plan to execute 500.

Pakistan began its de facto moratorium on civilian executions in 2008. Hanging, however, remains on the law books and judges continue to pass death sentences.

Game-changer

The government has described Tuesday's bloody rampage as its own "mini 9/11," calling it a game-changer in the fight against extremism.

The decision to reinstate executions has been condemned by human rights groups, with the United Nations also calling for it to reconsider.

Human Rights Watch on Saturday termed the executions "a craven politicized reaction to the Peshawar school killings" and demanded that no further hangings be carried out.

In last week's attack, Taliban militants entered the school and opened fire, with the Islamist organization later claiming it was in revenge for the family members who have died during the Pakistani army's operation against them in North Waziristan. The army says that it has killed 1,200 insurgents in that operation since mid-June.

glb/lw (Reuters, AFP, AP)