KARACHI, Oct 7: The federal government has decided to postpone the execution of murder convict Zulfiqar Ali who was to be hanged in Rawalpindi’s Adyala Jail on Wednesday.

The prime minister’s adviser on interior, Rahman Malik, conveyed the decision on Tuesday to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, according to HRCP’s co-chairperson Iqbal Haider.

Praising the government’s decision, Mr Haider urged President Asif Ali Zardari to commute Zulfiqar Ali’s death sentence because the federal government had committed to abolish death sentence in all cases.

Zulfiqar was too poor to afford a lawyer. It is believed that his trial was not conducted in a fair manner.

His wife died of blood cancer during his trial, leaving behind two daughters -– Noor Fatima, 11, and Fiza Ali, 10.Mr Haider also said that Zulfiqar was too poor to pay any ‘Diyat’ to seek forgiveness and, therefore, the president should set aside his death sentence.