Mar 2, 6:37 AM EST
Gunmen kill Christian Pakistan government minister By MUNIR AHMED and ZARAR KHAN Associated Press Virginian Pilot ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Assailants purportedly sent by al-Qaida and the Taliban killed the only Christian member of Pakistan's federal Cabinet Wednesday, spraying his car with bullets outside his parents' driveway. It was the second assassination in two months of a high-profile opponent of blasphemy laws that impose the death penalty for insulting Islam. The killing of Shahbaz Bhatti, a 42-year-old Roman Catholic, further undermines Pakistan's shaky image as a moderate Islamic state and could deepen the political turmoil in this nuclear-armed, U.S.-allied state where militants frequently stage suicide attacks. The Vatican said the assassination shows that the pope's warnings about the danger to Christians in the region are fully justified. Bhatti, a campaigner for human rights causes, had apparently been aware of the danger he was in and left a video-taped message with the British Broadcasting Corp. and the Al-Jazeera satellite TV station, to be broadcast in the event of his death. In the farewell statement, Bhatti said he was threatened by the Taliban and al-Qaida, but that this would not deter him from speaking for "oppressed and marginalized persecuted Christians and other minorities" in Pakistan. "I will die to defend their rights," he said on the tape. "These threats and these warnings cannot change my opinions and principles." Despite the threats, Bhatti, who had been assigned bodyguards, was without protection when he visited his parents in the capital of Islamabad on Wednesday afternoon, police said The politician had just pulled out of the driveway of his parents' house when three men standing nearby opened fire, said Gulam Rahim, a witness. Two of the men opened the door and tried to pull Bhatti out, Rahim said, while a third man fired his Kalashnikov rifle repeatedly into the dark-colored Toyota, shattering the windows with bullets. The gunmen then sped away in a white Suzuki Mehran car, said Rahim who took shelter behind a tree. Bhatti was dead on arrival at an area hospital, while his driver was not harmed. In leaflets left at the scene of the shooting, al-Qaida and the Pakistani Taliban Movement in Punjab province claimed responsibility. They blamed the government for putting Bhatti, an "infidel Christian," in charge of an unspecified committee, apparently referring to one said to be reviewing the blasphemy laws. The government has repeatedly said such a committee does not exist. "With the blessing of Allah, the mujahedeen will send each of you to hell," said the note, which did not name any other targets. Government officials condemned the killing, but made no reference to the blasphemy law controversy. "This is a concerted campaign to slaughter every liberal, progressive and humanist voice in Pakistan," said Farahnaz Ispahani, an aide to President Asif Ali Zardari. "The time has come for the federal government and provincial governments to speak out and to take a strong stand against these murderers to save the very essence of Pakistan." Bhatti, a member of Pakistan's ruling party, had been given police and paramilitary guards, said Wajid Durrani, a senior police official. He said Bhatti had asked his official guards not to travel with him during the visit to his parents' home. In January, Punjab province Gov. Salman Taseer was killed by a bodyguard who said he was angry that the politician opposed the blasphemy laws. To the horror of Pakistan's besieged liberals, many ordinary citizens praised the assassin - a sign of the spread of hardline Islamist thought in the country. With the death of Bhatti, Pakistani Christians lost their most prominent advocate. Christians are the largest religious minority in the country, where roughly 5 percent of 180 million people are not Muslim. They have very little political power and tend to work in lower-level jobs, such as street sweeping. "We have been orphaned today!" wailed Rehman Masih, a Christian resident of Islamabad. "Now who will fight for our rights? Who will raise a voice for us? Who will help us?" The assassination drew swift condemnation from Christian leaders elsewhere. A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the slaying was an act of "terrible gravity." He noted that Bhatti had met with Pope Benedict XVI in September and affirmed his commitment to peaceful relations among the religious communities in mainly Muslim Pakistan. The Vatican said the killing shows the pope's warnings about the danger to Christians in the region were justified. In Britain, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, expressed shock and sorrow over the killing. "This further instance of sectarian bigotry and violence will increase anxiety worldwide about the security of Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan," they said in a statement. They urged Pakistan's government to protect Christians and bring the perpetrators to justice. The U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter, also condemned the assassination, calling Bhatti "a Pakistani patriot." The blasphemy laws are a deeply sensitive subject in Pakistan, where most residents are Sunni Muslims and where austere versions of Islam - more common in the Middle East than South Asia - have been on the rise. Human rights groups have long warned that the laws are vaguely worded and open to abuse because people often use them to settle rivalries or persecute religious minorities. But in a sign of how scared the largely secular-leaning ruling party is of Islamist street power, party leaders haven't supported calls for reforming the laws. Instead, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and others have repeatedly insisted they won't touch the statutes. After the assassination of the Punjab governor, his confessed killer, bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri, was greeted with showers of rose petals from many lawyers who went to watch his initial court hearing. Weeks afterward, another prominent opponent of the blasphemy laws, National Assembly member Sherry Rehman, dropped her bid to get them changed. The People's Party member said she had to abide by party leaders' decisions. She, too, faces death threats and has been living with heavy security. No one has been put to death for blasphemy in Pakistan because courts typically throw out cases or commute the sentences. Still, some who are released are later killed by extremists or have to go into hiding. Others accused of blasphemy spend long periods in prison while waiting for their cases to wind through the courts. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [email protected]. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [email protected] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [email protected] Unsubscribe: [email protected] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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