Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Pakistani Governor Killed in Islamabad

   VOA News 04 January 2011
   A  policeman  surveys  the  site  where the governor of Pujab province
   Salman Taseer was shot dead in Islamabad on January 4, 2011.

Photo: Reuters

   A  policeman  surveys  the site where the governor of Punjab province,
   Salman Taseer, was shot dead in Islamabad on 4 Jan 2011.

   The  governor  of Pakistan's Punjab province has been shot dead by one
   of his bodyguards.
   Pakistan's  Interior  Minister  Rehman  Malik  says  Salman Taseer was
   gunned down in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, early Tuesday because
   of  his  outspoken  opposition  to  Pakistan's controversial blasphemy
   laws.   The  minister  says  Taseer's  killer  is  in custody and has
   confessed. Â
   Taseer  was  a  high-profile  member  of  the ruling Pakistan People's
   Party,  and  a  close  ally of Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari.Â
   His  killing  is the most high-profile assassination in Pakistan since
   former  [1]Prime  Minister Benazir Bhutto was killed in December 2007.
   The PPP declared two weeks of mourning on Tuesday. Â
   Taseer  opposed  Pakistan's blasphemy law, and the attack on him comes
   days  after  religious  parties staged protests against any government
   plans  to  change the law.  Officials have said the government is not
   changing it.
   The  blasphemy  law received international attention after a Christian
   woman  was  sentenced  to  death  in November by a court on charges of
   insulting Islam.
   Meanwhile,  police  in  southwestern  Pakistan say a remote-controlled
   bomb has ripped through a school bus, wounding at least five children.
   Authorities  say  the  blast  happened  Tuesday  in  Turbat, a town in
   Baluchistan  province  near  the  Iranian border. The bus was carrying
   children  of  paramilitary  soldiers,  and  police said several of the
   children were seriously hurt.
   Baluchistan  borders  both  Iran  and Afghanistan, and has been hit by
   violence from separatist insurgents.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Thousands-of-Pakistanis-Mourn-Bhutto-on-3rd-Anniversary-of-Assassination-112512759.html

.