Ubuntu :: Launching Terminal Apps In URXVT Automatically

Problem with use of -hold|+hold on rxvt-unicode (urxvt) v9.09 on ubuntu server. On startup, I'm trying to launch terminal apps in urxvt automatically. E.g:
Code:
"urxvt -e /usr/bin/weechat-curses +hold"
or
Code:
"urxvt -hold -e mutt"

However, -|+hold does not seem to hold the terminal open. There is a flicker of a new window opening & then it's gone. I'm trying to invoke this from .xinitrc (startx-->.xinitrc) and also tried commands from inside awesome wm rc.lua (awful.util.spawn_with_shell("urxvt -hold -e mutt") seem to get same flicker result but closes immediately. I see this error in .xsession-errors, which might be relevant (do I perhaps need to specify the display??).

Code:
[1461:1634:41805904:ERROR:all_status.cc(117)]
Unrecognized Syncer Event: 7
E: awesome: a_xcb_io_cb:230: X server connection broke
urxvt: X connection to ':0' broken, unable to recover, exiting.

Code:
rxvt-unicode (urxvt) v9.09 - released: 2010-11-13
options: perl,xft,styles,combining,blink,encodings=eu+vn+jp+jp-ext+kr+zh+zh-ext,fade,transparent,tint,afterimage,XIM,frills,selectionscrolling,wheel,slipwheel,smart-resize,cursorBlink,pointerBlank,scrollbars=plain+rxvt+NeXT+xterm
Usage: urxvt [-help] [--help]
...
[-n string] [-sl number] [-embed windowid] [-depth number]
[-/+override-redirect] [-pty-fd fileno] [-/+hold] [-w number] [-b number]
[-/+bl] [-lsp number] [-letsp number] [-/+sbg] [-mod modifier] [-/+ssc]
[-/+ssr] [-pe string] [-blt string] [-e command arg ...]

Code:
~$ awesome -k
✔ Configuration file syntax OK.
link to urxvt man: [URL]