This is breaking news just released. Really tragic news from Pakistan where the Governor Salman Taseer of the Pakistani province Punjab has been killed.
By ASIF SHAHZAD, Associated Press Asif Shahzad, Associated Press –
18 mins ago - Source Yahoo News ISLAMABAD – The governor of Pakistan's powerful Punjab province was shot dead in the capital Tuesday by one of his guards, who told interrogators afterward that he was angry about the politician's stance against the country's
blasphemy law, officials said.
The killing of Salman Taseer was the most high-profile assassination of a political figure in Pakistan since the slaying of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in December 2007, and it rattled a country already dealing with crises ranging from a potential collapse of the government to
Islamist militancy.
The killing could also add to concerns about inroads by Islamist extremists and fundamentalists into Pakistan's security establishment.
Taseer was a member of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and a close associate of
President Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's widower. The governor was vocal on a range of subjects, even using Twitter to get across his views.
In recent days, as the People's Party has faced the loss of its coalition partners, the 56-year-old Taseer has insisted that the government will survive. But it was his very public stance against the blasphemy law that apparently led to his killing.
Pakistan's blasphemy law has come under greater scrutiny in recent days after a Christian woman was sentenced to death for allegedly
insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad. The law effectively orders death for anyone convicted of insulting Islam.
An intelligence official interrogating the suspect, identified as Mumtaz Qadri, told The Associated Press that the elite force security guard was boasting about the assassination, saying he was proud to have killed a blasphemer.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media on the record.
Dozens of Pakistanis are sentenced to death each year under the blasphemy law, which dates back to the 1980s military rule of Gen. Mohammad Zia ul-Haq. Most cases are thrown out by higher courts and no executions have been carried out, but human rights activists have long complained that the law is used to settle rivalries and persecute religious minorities.
Under pressure from
Islamist parties, the People's Party said recently it would not pursue changes to the law.
"He was the most courageous voice after Benazir Bhutto on the rights of women and religious minorities," said a crying Farahnaz Ispahani, an aide to Zardari and friend of Taseer. "God, we will miss him."
Police official Mohammad Iftikhar said Taseer was gunned down after he reached Khosar Market, a shopping center in Islamabad popular with Westerners and wealthy Pakistanis. Five other people were wounded as other security personnel responded to the attack.
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