March 15, 2006	Wednesday	Safar 14, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, March 14: The Supreme Court will hear on Wednesday the appeal of convict Mushtaq Ahmed against death penalty awarded to him for his involvement in an assassination attempt on President Pervez Musharraf near Jhanda Chichi in Rawalpindi in 2003.

The appeal was filed on Tuesday after the Rawalpindi bench of Lahore High Court headed by Justice Abdul Shakoor Paracha dismissed his appeal and upheld the death sentence awarded to him by a military court. As a result of the dismissal, convict Mushtaq Ahmed was to be hanged on Wednesday morning.

Col (retd) Mohammad Akram, counsel for the convict, told Dawn that soon after the high court orders, he moved the Supreme Court through the appeal which the registrar of the court entertained and informed the authorities to delay execution till disposal of the appeal by the apex court.

The case has been given priority and fixed for hearing by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on Wednesday, he said.

The counsel for the convict has taken plea that his client could not be sentenced to death by the military court under the Air Force Act because he was a civilian, and not a regular employee of Pakistan Air Force.