China supports anti-terror plan while UN urges Pakistan to halt executions, re-impose moratorium
Pakistan Saturday defended lifting moratorium on death penalty in terrorism related cases, saying that the country is facing “difficult circumstances”.
“Unusual situations demand extraordinary measures to cope with the challenges,” the prime minister’s spokesman Musaddiq Malik said after UN chief urged Pakistan to halt executions.
Malik further said that Pakistan respects international community.
“Peaceful Pakistan is in the best interest of the whole world,” he added.
The PM’s spokesman statement came after UN chief Ban Ki-moon spoke with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday to express his condolences after the slaughter in Peshawar last week that left 150 people dead, including 134 children and urged to restore a moratorium on capital punishment.
The UN chief is pressing Pakistan to end capital punishment and restore a moratorium on the death penalty the government lifted in terror cases following the brutal attack on the ArmyPublic School in Peshawar.
“However, while fully recognising the difficult circumstances, the secretary general urged the government of Pakistan to stop the executions of convicts and re-impose the moratorium on the death penalty,” the UN chief’s office said in a statement.
Sharif promised that “all legal norms would be respected,” the statement added.
CHINA SUPPORTS PAK’S PLAN:
Earlier on Friday, China welcomed the national action plan prepared by Pakistan to eliminate terrorism from the country.
“China is against terrorism in any form. China firmly supports Pakistan in the implementation of its anti-terrorism strategy in accordance with its own national situation, and welcomes its national anti-terror plan,” Chinese Xinhua news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying as saying in Beijing.
“China will continue to provide assistance to Pakistan in its efforts to counter terrorism and safeguard its national security,” the spokesperson said.