EU High Representative for foreign affairs and security policy Catherine Ashton Friday welcomed the announcement that United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, ordered a stay on all executions in the UAE on 29 January.

"I hope this will constitute a 1st step towards the consideration of a definitive moratorium on the use of the death penalty in the UAE," she said in a statement.

The EU foreign policy chief said she also hoped that "this development will set a positive example for the wider region to adopt similar measures paving the way for the abolition of the death penalty." The EU opposes capital punishment in all cases and under all circumstance, added Ashton.

Source: Kuwait News Agency, Feb.7 , 2014