Pakistan's top court halts execution of mentally ill inmate

A rights group says Pakistan's Supreme Court has halted the execution of a mentally ill prisoner. In a statement, the Justice Project Pakistan said Monday's court order halting the execution of Ghulam Abbas, 36, was announced by the Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa.

The development came a day after the group said Abbas was being treated with strong anti-psychotic drugs by prison authorities and that the man had a family history of mental illness. Abbas was sentenced to death in 2006 for fatally stabbing a neighbour in 2004.

He was scheduled to be hung Tuesday at the jail the city of Rawalpindi. Pakistan is a signatory to international conventions that bar the execution of mentally ill prisoners.