Pakistan hangs 4 Muslims for gang-rape of Christian

ISLAMABAD, June 29 (Reuters) Four men were hanged in Pakistan today for gang-raping a teenaged Christian girl at gunpoint in the central city of Faisalabad seven years ago.

The men, all Muslims, were convicted by an anti-terrorism court and the verdict was upheld by higher courts, including the Federal Sharia (Islamic) Court.

''The men were hanged at 4:30 a m,'' said a prison official in Faisalabad.

Christians form a small minority in overwhelmingly Muslim Pakistan and incidents of sectarian violence are highly sensitive.

President General Pervez Musharraf had rejected mercy pleas from the men.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan recorded 207 cases of gang-rape in Pakistan during 2005.

Amnesty International, which opposes the death penalty, says 241 persons were sentenced to death in Pakistan during 2005, and 32 people were executed.

Reuters SY DB1301