Murdered governor buried in Pakistan
Source: Agencies |
January 6, 2011, Thursday
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THOUSANDS gathered under tight security yesterday to pay silent homage at the funeral of a provincial governor shot dead by a bodyguard who said he was enraged by the politician's opposition to laws ordering death for -insulting Islam.
Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, 66, was a senior member of the ruling party and regarded as an outspoken moderate in a country increasingly beset by zealotry. His assassination on Tuesday added to the turmoil in Pakistan, where the government is under pressure from opposition parties and Islamic militancy is rising.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and other senior ruling party officials joined up to 6,000 mourners at a ceremony at the governor's official residence in the city of Lahore in eastern Pakistan, before Taseer was buried at a nearby cemetery.
Taseer was a close ally of President Asif Ali Zardari and the highest-profile political figure to be assassinated since former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was killed three years ago. His death was a reminder of the growing danger to those in Pakistan who dare to challenge Islamist extremists.
Khusro Pervez, the commissioner of Lahore, said city authorities had deployed extra police to keep the peace before and after Taseer's funeral. Thousands of police guarded the governor's residence and other key sites.
"Police are on maximum alert and are guarding all important installations in the city," Pervez said.
The governor's residence has been the scene of angry street protests in recent weeks against Taseer's call to repeal blasphemy laws that order death for anyone convicted of insulting Islam and his -support for a Christian woman sentenced to die for -allegedly insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
Taseer was shot in the capital Islamabad as he left a restaurant to walk to his car.
An intelligence official who interrogated the suspect, Mumtaz Qadri, said the 26-year-old commando had been planning the assassination since learning four days ago that he would be deployed with security for the governor. Police were trying to determine how Qadri was assigned to Taseer's security detail on Tuesday and if he had help.
Political allies questioned why Taseer wasn't better protected, given the weeks of protests outside the governor's mansion over his opposition to the blasphemy laws.
Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, 66, was a senior member of the ruling party and regarded as an outspoken moderate in a country increasingly beset by zealotry. His assassination on Tuesday added to the turmoil in Pakistan, where the government is under pressure from opposition parties and Islamic militancy is rising.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and other senior ruling party officials joined up to 6,000 mourners at a ceremony at the governor's official residence in the city of Lahore in eastern Pakistan, before Taseer was buried at a nearby cemetery.
Taseer was a close ally of President Asif Ali Zardari and the highest-profile political figure to be assassinated since former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was killed three years ago. His death was a reminder of the growing danger to those in Pakistan who dare to challenge Islamist extremists.
Khusro Pervez, the commissioner of Lahore, said city authorities had deployed extra police to keep the peace before and after Taseer's funeral. Thousands of police guarded the governor's residence and other key sites.
"Police are on maximum alert and are guarding all important installations in the city," Pervez said.
The governor's residence has been the scene of angry street protests in recent weeks against Taseer's call to repeal blasphemy laws that order death for anyone convicted of insulting Islam and his -support for a Christian woman sentenced to die for -allegedly insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
Taseer was shot in the capital Islamabad as he left a restaurant to walk to his car.
An intelligence official who interrogated the suspect, Mumtaz Qadri, said the 26-year-old commando had been planning the assassination since learning four days ago that he would be deployed with security for the governor. Police were trying to determine how Qadri was assigned to Taseer's security detail on Tuesday and if he had help.
Political allies questioned why Taseer wasn't better protected, given the weeks of protests outside the governor's mansion over his opposition to the blasphemy laws.
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