The leader of Pakistan's MQM opposition party, Altaf Hussain, says the conviction of two party members sentenced to death for murder was based on confessions obtained under torture.

Mr Hussein, who lives in exile in London, said the party would appeal against the sentences, passed by an anti-terrorist court in Pakistan.

He said the MQM was also appealing to human rights organisations to press for the case to be brought before the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

The two MQM members Ahmed Saeed and Mohammad Salim were convicted of killing four American oil company executives and their Pakistani driver in Karachi in 1997. The MQM represents Urdu-speaking migrants who arrived from India at the time of partition in 1947.