Pakistanis Mourn Murdered Minister
VOA News March 03, 2011
Hundreds of Pakistanis have taken to the streets for a second day to protest the assassination of the country's only Christian cabinet member who challenged Pakistan's blasphemy law.
Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti was gunned down in broad daylight in Islamabad Wednesday. Taliban leaflets were found at the scene.
Rallies took place in several cities on Thursday, including the capital, Islamabad and in nearby Rawalpindi. Protesters there burned tires and chanted "anyone who commits injustice or oppression will have to answer for it."
One woman said that whoever killed Bhatti was "defaming the image of Islam."
Bhatti is the second high profile official to be killed for opposing the law, which carries the death penalty for insulting Islam. Punjab province's governor Salman Taseer was shot dead in January.
The assassinations have drawn international condemnation.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani announced three days of official mourning for Bhatti and he vowed to root out terrorism and extremism in Pakistan.
His comments came as a suicide bombing and an ambush targeting police killed 15 people in northwestern Pakistan, including nine police officers.
Thursday's suicide bombing took place in the Hangu district, adjacent to the country's troubled tribal region near the Afghan border. At least 30 people were wounded in the blast, which struck a residential area and damaged at least seven houses. Police say the car contained at least 300 kilograms of explosives.
Meanwhile, in militants in the Khyber tribal region attacked a military vehicle, killing at least six men from the tribal police force.
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