U.N. expert warns Maldives executions would be 'great setback'

GENEVA (Reuters) - The Maldives will make a big mistake if it ends a six-decade moratorium on the death penalty, an independent U.N. human rights expert said on Thursday, after a senior government minister said executions might take place within days.

"The resumption of executions in the Maldives after more than 60 years would be a great setback for the country and entire region, and would run counter to international trends towards abolition," Agnes Callamard, U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said in a statement.