Islamabad: Britain's Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, arrived in Pakistan for their first ever visit amid reports the prince would use talks with Pakistani leaders on Monday to seek clemency for a British man on death row in Pakistan.
The royal couple flew into the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, late Sunday and were scheduled to meet President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Monday, their first official engagements during their five-day visit, said British High Commission spokesman Aidan Liddle.
Charles and wife Camilla who is also the Duchess of Cornwall, were received by Sumaira Malik, Pakistan's minister for women's affairs, at the airport. A large media contingent was not permitted to ask questions of the royal couple.
Liddle would not say what the Prince of Wales plans to discuss with Pakistani leaders or whether he was expected to ask about Mirza Tahir Hussain, a British national on death row in Pakistan for murdering a Pakistani taxi driver.
Hussain, 36, was convicted of murdering Jamshed Khan in 1988 and has been in custody ever since. Hussain’s execution was scheduled for November 1 in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near Islamabad, but Musharraf has delayed the execution until the end of the
year.
The English-language daily The Nation said on Sunday that Prince Charles will 'seek a clemency' for Hussain during his meeting with Musharraf, quoting unidentified diplomatic sources. Dawn, another English-language daily, said the prince would discuss Hussain's case with Pakistani officials.
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