Deadline passes for China Briton

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Relatives are waiting to hear whether a British man convicted of drug smuggling in China has been executed.

Akmal Shaikh had been told he would be killed at 1030 (0230 GMT) on Tuesday, but it is not yet clear whether the sentence has been carried out.

The UK government made a last-ditch appeal for clemency on Monday on the grounds that the 53-year-old, from London, is said to be mentally ill.

China's Supreme Court had said the evidence for this was insufficient.

The BBC understands that if the execution has gone ahead, the Chinese authorities will inform the British authorities at a senior level.

British officials will first let Mr Shaikh's family know, and then the media.

Just before the execution deadline Mr Shaikh's two cousins, who visited him on Monday, issued a statement at Beijing Airport repeating calls for leniency because of his mental state.

But at the same time an official statement from the Xinhua news agency reiterated China's Supreme Court ruling that the evidence that Mr Shaikh suffers from mental illness was "insufficient".

Mr Shaikh's family say he suffers from bipolar disorder and was duped into carrying a suitcase containing 4kg of heroin for a criminal gang in 2007.

They say the Chinese authorities have ignored evidence of his condition and refused to carry out a full mental health assessment.

'Done everything possible'

On Monday, Foreign Office minister Ivan Lewis held last-ditch talks with the Chinese ambassador in London.

It's entirely inappropriate that he be put to death Foreign Office minister Ivan Lewis <a class="" href="/2/hi/asia-pacific/8432514.stm">Executions shrouded in secrecy</a>

The meeting followed what Mr Lewis said were "27 representations over the last two years" to the Chinese government over the case.

Afterwards, he told the BBC: "I believe we have done everything we possibly can."

He said he hoped the UK's relationship with China would "count for something in the end", adding: "It's entirely inappropriate that he be put to death.

"It cannot be right that there has not been any medical assessment done of Mr Shaikh's mental condition. In any judicial system that simply cannot be acceptable."

The BBC's Beijing correspondent, Chris Hogg, said secrecy surrounding executions - and the judicial process in general - in China means it is impossible to know if an individual has received a fair trial or not.

But human rights charity Amnesty International UK said Chinese criminal law did allow for somebody with a mental illness to receive a lighter punishment and it would not be unprecedented to use that provision in this case.

'Lost touch'

A protest has been going on outside the Chinese Embassy in London, calling for clemency for Mr Shaikh and those present include representatives of charity MDF, The Bipolar Organisation.

Spokesman Robert Westhead told the BBC that when in a "manic" phase of the illness, Mr Shaikh may have "lost touch with reality".

CHINA DEATH PENALTY China executed 1,718 people in 2008, according to Amnesty InternationalLast year 72% of the world's total executions took place in China, the charity estimatesIt applies to 60 offences, including non-violent crimes such as tax fraud and embezzlementThose sentenced to death are usually shot, but some provinces are introducing lethal injections

"Anyone in a normal state of mind - and no doubt him when he was well - wouldn't dream of taking someone's baggage. When manic he probably thought, 'Fine, what a great idea'."

Mr Shaikh's final appeal was turned down last week. He would become the first EU national to be executed in China in 50 years.

His cousins, Soohail and Nasir Shaikh, informed him of his fate as they spent 90 minutes with him on Monday at the secure hospital in Urumqi where he has been held.

A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in London said Mr Shaikh was found with enough heroin to kill 26,800 people.

"Drug trafficking is a grave crime worldwide," he said. "The general public has a deep-seated hatred toward it."