Political leaders in the home state of convicted killer Aimal Kasi are appealing to the US to spare his life, saying that by forgiving one person, Washington could win the hearts of millions over to the war on terrorism, a newspaper reported today. The 38-year-old Kasi, who was born in Quetta, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in Virginia on Thursday for gunning down two CIA employees outside the intelligence agency’s headquarters.In his hometown, newspapers have published appeals for clemency and asked the city’s more than 1 million residents to “pray for Kasi that god save his life from execution.’’ Two prominent local politicians weighed in, according to an article published today, saying that putting Kasi to death will do nothing to help Washington’s relationship with Pakistan, a key ally in the US-led war against Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network.‘‘By forgiving one person, the US can win the hearts of millions of people in its war against terrorism,’’ the Baluchistan Times quoted Sarwar Khan Kakar and Noor Jehan Panezai as saying. Kakar is Secretary-General of the state branch of the party that supports Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the Quaid-e-Azam faction of the Pakistan Muslim League.
