2 March 2011 VOA News Taliban gunmen killed Pakistan's minister for minorities Wednesday, in the second attack this year on a high-profile figure who has opposed the country's blasphemy law.
Police say Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian in the predominantly Muslim country, was killed after the assailants opened fire as he traveled in a car in the capital, Islamabad. He was without his assigned bodyguards at the time of the attack.
Taliban leaflets were found on the scene, warning against changes to the blasphemy law.
Bhatti had spoken to VOA last month about threats he received from
In January, the governor of Punjab province, Salman Taseer, was assassinated by his own bodyguard. Bhatti praised the slain governor for speaking out against the misuse of the Islamic law of blasphemy, and told VOA the killing was a barbaric act.
Pakistani leaders on Wednesday condemned Bhatti's murder, saying it will not deter the country from its fight against religious extremism.
The killing also sparked strong international condemnation.
The Vatican said the attack was a “terribly grave act of violence” that demonstrates the Pope's warnings about the danger to Christians in the region were fully “justified.”
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the killing and urged the Pakistani government to protect the rights of minorities and promote tolerance. U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay said the government should “honor the courageous stand” of Bhatti and Taseer by supporting their position on the blasphemy laws.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday she was “distressed” by the slaying, calling it an attack on the “values of tolerance and respect.” U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry called the killing “particularly chilling.”
Bhatti also spoke out in defense of a Christian mother of five who was sentenced to death last year for blasphemy against Islam.
Pakistan's Christians make up less than 5 percent of the country's 175 million people and have long complained of discrimination.
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