AN ACCRINGTON man and Haslingden woman have denied murdering her husband in Pakistan.

Ian Priddle, 46, and Yasira Pervez, a 24-year-old law student, are accused of murdering Khurum Mukhtar in a hotel in Rawalpindi, on December 30, 2006.

Mr Mukhtar, 21, was allegedly stabbed to death and was found lying in a pool of blood.

His body was discovered by a waiter and the emergency services were called. He later died in hospital.

It is believed Ms Pervez married Mr Mukhtar, her cousin, in an arranged marriage in Pakistan in 2005.

Priddle, of Jubilee Road, Haslingden, and Pervez, of Pendle Street, Accrington, were remanded into custody at Manchester Crown Court and the trial will be heard at the same court on December 1.

The pair were originally detained when a Pakistan International Airlines flight landed at Manchester Airport on January 1, 2007.

An inquiry into the incident took place between officers from Greater Manchester Police’s major incident team along with the Foreign and Common-wealth Office and Pakistani authorities.

They were bailed while investigations took place.

Rawalpindi police contacted British authorities through Interpol for extradition of the pair.

But, as Britain does not have an extradition agreement with Pakistan because the country has the death penalty, it was decided the court case would take place in England.