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President Asif Ali Zardari stayed the executions of all condemned prisoners except those involved in cases of terrorism or anti-state activities, until December 31, 2010. President Zardari took this decision in accordance with the statement of the prime minister and due to the advent of the holy month of Ramadan and the occasion of Pakistan's 63rd Independence Day. The president directed the officials that equal treatment be provided to all the condemned prisoners. Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, in his speech on the floor of the National Assembly on June 20, had said that the government had been considering commuting the death sentences of prisoners to life imprisonment.