Breaking:Pakistan minorities minister shot dead in Islamabad Excerpts:
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani minister for minorities Shahbaz Bhatti, who had called for changes in the country's controversial blasphemy law, was killed in a gun attack in Islamabad on Wednesday, officials said.
Police said the shooting took place near an Islamabad market. Bhatti was the only Christian in the Pakistani cabinet.
"The initial reports are that there were three men who attacked him. He was probably shot using a Kalashnikov, but we are trying to ascertain what exactly happened," said Islamabad police chief Wajid Durrani.
Also:
On Jan 4 the governor of the most populous province of Punjab, Salman Taseer, who had strongly opposed the law and sought presidential pardon for the 45-year-old Christian farmhand, was gunned down by one of his bodyguards.
And:
The anti-blasphemy law has its roots in 19th-century colonial legislation to protect places of worship, but it was during the military dictatorship of General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq in the 1980s that it acquired teeth as part of a drive to Islamise the state.
..
Blasphemy convictions are common, although the death sentence has never been carried out. Most convictions are thrown out on appeal, but angry mobs have killed many people accused of blasphemy.
U.S., Pakistan could use a Muslim ritual to resolve Raymond Davis case Excerpts:
One way out of the mess surrounding the Jan. 27 arrest in Lahore of CIA contractor Raymond Davis, say senior U.S. and Pakistani officials, is a Muslim ritual for resolving disputes known as "blood money."
This approach would require a prominent Islamic intermediary - perhaps from Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates - who would invite relatives of the two men Davis killed to the Gulf. Payment to the victims' families could then be negotiated quietly. Once the next of kin had agreed to this settlement, the legal case against Davis for murder might be moot in a Pakistani court.
And:
Asked about such a third-party mediation to free Davis, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday: "The United States is open to exploring any and all options that could resolve this matter. . . . It's in our mutual interest to move beyond the Davis issue, and we believe the Pakistanis understand the stakes involved."
Pakistan also wants a pledge by the CIA that it will not conduct "unilateral" operations within its borders, like those in which Davis was allegedly involved. The Pakistanis say they want to be treated in intelligence matters like other allies of the United States, such as Britain and France, or, closer to home, Egypt, Israel and Jordan. (Uh-huh..)
Also:
The Davis case remains mysterious more than a month after it surfaced. He was arrested after shooting two Pakistanis following him, who, according to the official U.S. version, he thought were thieves. But an unnamed ISI official cited in a Feb. 23 Associated Press story from Islamabad said that Davis "knew both the men he shot." This suggests the two might have been operatives from the ISI or even a terrorist group who were assigned to tail or harass him.
..
The paperwork for Davis's visa and work assignment is fuzzy, at best. He was carrying three different ID cards when he was arrested. He wasn't included on a Jan. 25 U.S. list of people needing to be registered with the Foreign Office; his name is said to have been added within a day or two after his arrest. It's still not clear just what he was doing in Lahore, or whether he may have worked as a Defense Department contractor before shifting to the CIA.
For now, the one certainty is that the CIA and ISI would like to resolve this issue quietly, with outside help, if necessary - before it gets any worse. If mediation fails and the case goes to court, says one Pakistani, it will be an "atomic bomb."
Man, that's an ominous choice of words..
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani minister for minorities Shahbaz Bhatti, who had called for changes in the country's controversial blasphemy law, was killed in a gun attack in Islamabad on Wednesday, officials said.
Police said the shooting took place near an Islamabad market. Bhatti was the only Christian in the Pakistani cabinet.
"The initial reports are that there were three men who attacked him. He was probably shot using a Kalashnikov, but we are trying to ascertain what exactly happened," said Islamabad police chief Wajid Durrani.
Also:
On Jan 4 the governor of the most populous province of Punjab, Salman Taseer, who had strongly opposed the law and sought presidential pardon for the 45-year-old Christian farmhand, was gunned down by one of his bodyguards.
And:
The anti-blasphemy law has its roots in 19th-century colonial legislation to protect places of worship, but it was during the military dictatorship of General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq in the 1980s that it acquired teeth as part of a drive to Islamise the state.
..
Blasphemy convictions are common, although the death sentence has never been carried out. Most convictions are thrown out on appeal, but angry mobs have killed many people accused of blasphemy.
U.S., Pakistan could use a Muslim ritual to resolve Raymond Davis case Excerpts:
One way out of the mess surrounding the Jan. 27 arrest in Lahore of CIA contractor Raymond Davis, say senior U.S. and Pakistani officials, is a Muslim ritual for resolving disputes known as "blood money."
This approach would require a prominent Islamic intermediary - perhaps from Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates - who would invite relatives of the two men Davis killed to the Gulf. Payment to the victims' families could then be negotiated quietly. Once the next of kin had agreed to this settlement, the legal case against Davis for murder might be moot in a Pakistani court.
And:
Asked about such a third-party mediation to free Davis, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday: "The United States is open to exploring any and all options that could resolve this matter. . . . It's in our mutual interest to move beyond the Davis issue, and we believe the Pakistanis understand the stakes involved."
Pakistan also wants a pledge by the CIA that it will not conduct "unilateral" operations within its borders, like those in which Davis was allegedly involved. The Pakistanis say they want to be treated in intelligence matters like other allies of the United States, such as Britain and France, or, closer to home, Egypt, Israel and Jordan. (Uh-huh..)
Also:
The Davis case remains mysterious more than a month after it surfaced. He was arrested after shooting two Pakistanis following him, who, according to the official U.S. version, he thought were thieves. But an unnamed ISI official cited in a Feb. 23 Associated Press story from Islamabad said that Davis "knew both the men he shot." This suggests the two might have been operatives from the ISI or even a terrorist group who were assigned to tail or harass him.
..
The paperwork for Davis's visa and work assignment is fuzzy, at best. He was carrying three different ID cards when he was arrested. He wasn't included on a Jan. 25 U.S. list of people needing to be registered with the Foreign Office; his name is said to have been added within a day or two after his arrest. It's still not clear just what he was doing in Lahore, or whether he may have worked as a Defense Department contractor before shifting to the CIA.
For now, the one certainty is that the CIA and ISI would like to resolve this issue quietly, with outside help, if necessary - before it gets any worse. If mediation fails and the case goes to court, says one Pakistani, it will be an "atomic bomb."
Man, that's an ominous choice of words..
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